What Happens Now?
by kojie
Summary: Got a small n short author's note for ya'll:)
1. Am I a freak?

__

*Edited 9.13.02*

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'cept the story.

****

Note: Takes place immediately after DoR II. You know, the part wher Mystique says "And things will get much worse…" or something like dat. Oh, little reminder -- remember when Rogue and the others got slimed? Hehe …Well, dats why they're not here. Oh, and I kinda changed it a little bit, too so dat Storm was slimed with them. Though I can't remember if Beast was slimed in the ep? Was he? ..Er, yeah, anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. 

****

**WARNING: 'Tis a Jean fic.

****

***ANOTHER WARNING: 'Tis also a…mushy fic^ ^

****

What Happens Now?

BY:

kojie

==

Chapter One

==

Mystique cackled like a crazy witch. Everyone was scared. All except Lance that is. He smiled smugly.  
  
Surely, Mystique would fill him in later, right?  
  
The sound of helicopters far away in the distance startled Mystique. She turned from their shocked faces to look. The look of panic came across her face.  
  
_Damn! The police--- No, wait. they're reporters… perfect.  
_  
"Ah, it seems that we have more company; more media for us mutants. It hasn't even been 24 hours and already we're the talk of the town." She turned around to face all of them. "I'm so very sorry," she announced, "but I'm afraid I have more important matters to attend to. Take care, I'll be watching." And with that, she morphed into a crow, and started to fly away. The X-men and the Brotherhood both stared at the three helicopters coming in their direction. They were too shocked, too confused. Everything went by so fast. Some of them still had their mouths wide open.  
  
_What would happen to them now?  
_  
Finally, Scott drew them back to reality. "Everyone, right now, we don't have enough time. I don't know what happened, but I'm getting the feeling that we need to get outta here." He paused to look around. Everyone was nervous, and look lost, this time, including Lance. But everyone was listening. Mystique had abandoned them.  
  
_Where are we supposed to go? It's not like there was another Xavier Institute where they could hide and be safe…  
_  
Suddenly Scott got an idea. He turned to face Jean. "Do you remember that summer when we went to Scotland to meet this lady, uh, the professor's friend?"  
  
"Y-yeah, her name's Moira, I think."  
  
"Well, she knows we're mutants, and she's the professor's friend. You think she'll help us?"  
  
"Well, it's our only option…we won't know till we try, I guess," she answered, still shaking a bit.  
  
"Alright. Uh, everyone, we need to get into the helicopter. I'm not sure if everyone will fit….let's just hope so. Okay, everyone let's move!"  
  
He tried to sound calm, to make the others calm. But inside, he was just as scared as everybody else. Everyone ran quickly towards the helicopter. Cyclops and Jean stood near the opening door to count everyone. "Roberto, Rahne, Jubilee, Sam, Ray, Bobby, Toad, Lance, Kitty, Tabitha, Kurt, and Amara, and is there anybody else?" They both looked around. Jean even scanned the area with her telepathy. There was no one else. Both exchanged glances and nodded. Jean went in first, and Scott followed. It was pretty crowded inside. There were only six seats, so eight had to sit on the floor, or stand up. Lance stood up from his seat so Kitty could sit down. She smiled at him. He grinned. Cyclops and Bobby were both at the two front seats; they were the pilots. Amara took the seat behind Scott, Ray took the one beside her, and Jubilee took the one behind her, beside Kitty. Lance sat on the floor next to Kitty's seat. Most of the others didn't really care where they sat; they were just glad to be there. They scattered between the seats. Jean however, sat at the back, the farthest from everyone else. She needed to be alone. She needed to think. Her life had just turned upside-down. Nothing made sense anymore. Her plans for the future were ruined. Now that everyone knew she was a mutant, what do they think of her now? What does Taryn think of her? What about Duncan…?  
  
_Oh God, they think I'm a freak.  
_  
She buried her face into her hands, and sobbed quietly.  
  
The flight would be a quiet one.  
  
  
=

==

===

==

=

Feedback is always welcome, wanted, and appreciated!! Please review guys!


	2. Scott

****

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'cept the story.

__

*Edited 8/16/02 - 11:16am*

What Happens Now?

BY:  
  
kojie

==

CHAPTER TWO

==

I pushed the autopilot button and stood up. I put my hand on Bobby's shoulder, and he looked up. I simply nodded, and he understood. He knew I trusted him.

I looked around; it suddenly came to me that not everyone was there. Rogue and Evan were missing. And so were Beast and Storm. Where were they? What happened during that mission? Where's the professor? How long has he been missing? Is he safe? Who's behind all this? I had so many questions, but no answers. So much stuff has happened, and my head was getting overloaded. I started to feel dizzy. 

__

Man, I need to get some stuff outta my head. 

I needed to talk to someone, but not just anyone. I needed to talk to someone who'd listen and at least try to understand. There was only one person that I could think of-- Jean. 

I couldn't find Jean at first; the helicopter was surprisingly quite big. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw something red. Well, actually, everything I see is red. It's a little hard to explain, but I guess I saw something a bit redder than red? …it doesn't really make any sense, does it? But still, that's what I saw. I saw Jean's trademark; her long, silky, soft, fiery red hair. I couldn't really see her face because she was half-covered by the shadows. 

Why would she want to sit way back over there? 

Probably because she just doesn't want to be seen or disturbed, a small voice said in my mind. I hesitate, but I walk up to her anyway. I sat right next to her, leaning against the wall. I stole a quick glance at her; I didn't want to stare, really. She was crying, or had been crying. She sniffed a couple of times, wiping her tears, and turned away from me. I guess she doesn't want me to see her looking so..…vulnerable. But right then, she did look vulnerable. All my problems, and questions suddenly went away.

I wanted to comfort her, to say that everything was gonna be alright. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, and let her know that I'm here. I always have, and that I always will be. I wanted her to know that I love her. I still do, maybe now even more than ever before…

She looked up, her eyes still swollen and red, her face flushed. 

Our eyes _locked_. I don't know how she did it, with my visor and all, but she found my eyes and knew that I was looking straight back at hers. Even with all the craziness and confusion happening, she gave a small, warm smile. To me. 

Well, that was it for me. I knew right then, that no matter what, whether she will have me or not, Jean Grey would always be the one for me. 


	3. Rogue

****

DiScLaiMeR: Don't own the X-Men. Never did, never will.

****

Note: Rogue….sorry if it probably sucks more than my other fics…I'm not really a Rogue fan…so I had a much much harder time writing this……Btw, I don't write Rogue-bashing fics…not yet, anywaYz=P --although I doubt I ever will--hehe=)

==

Rogue slowly opened her eyes, and squinted, raising her arms to cover her eyes. The surrounding were vaguely unfamiliar. It looked like a clean, modern prison cell, or something. There was only one light; a cheap-looking old fluorescent light which hung from the ceiling, turning off and on, back and forth, as if the power was going out. There were two beds, both made with wooden frame, and nothing else. The room was probably 12 by 10 feet, with dark grayish walls. She half-expected to see a "Fuck you" sign, but the walls were clear of graffiti. She then noticed a narrow door to her right, which was probably a bathroom, but not before she noticed the open hallway in front of her. 

Strange, shouldn't there be like a wall or somethin' ?

She blinked, trying to clear her vision. No, there still wasn't a wall. _Weird._

Then, an idea crossed her mind. She grabbed a small stone near her right leg, and with all her might, she threw it towards the hallway. The pebble never reached it. It wasn't because Rogue wasn't strong enough, even though she was feeling a bit weak. It was because it bounced back, as if there was an invisible wall in front of the open hallway.

__

I knew it!, Rogue thought, _There's some kind of force field or somethin'…_

She didn't even bother to get up. Her whole body was hurting. Instead she turned her head and looked around. 

__

Guess ah'm _alone….no, wait--what's that?_

Something caught her eye; it was near the bathroom door and mostly covered by the shadows…

Rogue squinted for a moment. Then her eyes widened. Could it be? 

"Logan!" she cried out. 

He didn't answer, nor did he move. He seemed to be unconscious, or sleeping. He was sitting and leaned back against the wall, his head drooping on his shoulder.

Rogue wanted to go and wake him up, but she suddenly felt tired. She felt exhausted. 

It seemed as if all her strength had left her. She didn't even have enough to keep her eyes open. Blackness started to surround her. She wanted to fight it, but she couldn't. 

The blackness consumed her.

=========================================================

Ok….whatdayathink? GOoD? Bad? …plz review…but say only GOoD stuf=) haha

…I can't stand wen peepz flame me *sniff* ….

Hope _ya'll_ liked it! -- cRaP! Ah'm talkin' like a southerner now!!

=========================================================

"I'm high, but I'm grounded." 

-- "Hand on My Pocket" by Alanis Morissette. 


	4. Bad Boys

****

DiScLaiMeR: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. The story belongs to me.

****

*Note: I edited this chap again (10-31-02) cuz the description of the Muir Island Research Facility (in chapter...12?) didn't quite fit in with the description here. …um….enjoy?

****

Note: Ok, I kinda edited it a lil bit…changed Banshee's nationality from Scottish to Irish=) thanks to the Scribe for clearing dat up. Although Moira is Scottish right? I should do better research next time…..ehehe  
  
  
**What Happens Now?**

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Four

==

  
Our eyes _locked_. Don't ask me how, they just did. It's really kind of hard to explain, but I guess it's just one of those things that don't really have any logic in them. Like, for example, you know those Apple Jacks commercials where the kids always say they like `em even if they don't taste like apples because they just do? Well, it's kind of like that. It just the way things are.

Anyway, our eyes were locked. He was releasing all these strong emotions and feelings to me. They made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. They gave me a kind of tingly feeling. I loved every second of it. Our eyes were still locked. He took a deep breath.

__

What are you thinking Scott Summers? 

Then, he sent me a thought. 

__

*I love you, Jean.* 

Plain and simple. My heart soared. 

He raised his right hand, to caress my cheek. My heartbeat definitely skipped a beat.

__

What do I say?

*I-I know, Scott* 

Tears were starting to form again. _Damn it_.

__

*I- *

"Scott! I think I see Muir Island!," Bobby's voice boomed, startling Scott and making me jump a little bit, and breaking our intimate link. Scott looked at me for a second, waiting for me to continue. But I couldn't. The moment was lost…and I just couldn't do it. I turned away. He sighed, standing up, and walked towards Bobby. I didn't hear what they were saying though, because I was lost in my thoughts…again. Scott was hurt, I knew that. I mean seriously, who wouldn't be if you had just admitted to someone that you loved them and they didn't return it? I was going to tell him I loved him too, but after Bobby yelled, it just didn't feel right anymore. It felt a bit…awkward? I do love him, I really do and I think he knows that, too. Isn't that….enough? I've waited for so long already, and I almost lost him. I have to tell him when the right time comes. I just have to. 

==

Scott landed the helicopter with ease. 

__

The training sessions do pay off, Scott thought.

Moira MacTaggert and her fiancé, Sean Cassidy a.k.a. Banshee, were both waiting for them on the ground, still with surprised looks on their faces. As soon as the two stepped down from the helicopter, Moira immediately half-ran towards them.

"Scott! Jean! What are you doing here?," she cried out in a light Scottish accent, hugging them both. 

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming? Is something wrong? Who are your friends? And where's Charles?", the scientist asked, never pausing. Jean opened her mouth to answer her first question, but Moira cut her off. 

"And Scott, why are your clothes torn? Oh, and theirs are too!," she said, as she noticed the New X-Men slowly stepping out of the aircraft. 

"Tell me what happened!!" she said, almost screaming in a somewhat panicky voice. Sean put his right hand on his soon-to-be wife's shoulder, and in his softest, and gentlest voice, he said, "Moira, I think we should help them get settled in first. Then we can ask questions," trying to calm her down. He had a very thick Irish accent, the students noticed. He turned to face the group of teens. 

"Ye all must be starving. Come with me to the manor, while Moira goes and looks for some clothes that will fit you. Then I will show you to your quarters where you can rest," he said, in a warm voice. 

They all nodded their heads, relaxing a little bit. 

"We hope we're not causing any trouble or anything…" Jean said uncertainly, exchanging glances with Scott.

"No, of course not lass. It's our pleasure. Yuir always welcome here. Now come, follow me," he replied, smiling, beckoning them to follow him, "and let us get you settled in." 

They smiled.

== 

"I'm afraid most of you will have to share rooms. We never did get to finish building this. Procrastination is such a hard thing to overcome… Is that alright?," Sean asked, after showing them the quarters. They were underground, just below the manor. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, were made of some kind of metal. 

"It's made of adamantium," Sean had explained. "Charles helped us build it. It was supposed to be for runaway or lost mutants, just like some of you..."

__

Just like another branch of the Xavier Institute! Scott thought enthusiastically.

  
"You've done more than enough for us already," Kitty said, shyly.

"Yeah, Mr. Cassidy. And don't worry, we'll work it out," Jean added. The others stayed quiet, either not knowing what to say to receive such great generosity, or just didn't know if it was appropriate to talk.

"Well, alright. But if you ever need anything, just let us know," he said, with just a hint of uncertainty in his voice, and walked away towards the only elevator that went up and down from the manor to the underground quarters. Scott turned to face all of them as soon as the elevator doors closed.

"Alright, first thing's first. Uh, we need to pick roommates…" 

He turned to Kurt.

"Kurt, go check how many rooms there are."

"Sure thing, Mr. Cyclops," he said as he teleported away. Scott frowned. 

__

Mr. Cyclops? 

*BAMF* 

"I think zhere are eight rooms in all. Four rooms on each side, and a kind of storage closet at zhe end of zhe hall," Kurt reported. 

"Okay. Well, there are 1,2,3,4...there are 15 of us. Grab a partner to room with, and--"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence because everybody moved so fast. Hands were grabbing arms so quickly, the entire grabbing lasted a little more than 2 seconds. Everybody except Lance, Scott, and Todd were quick to choose. Kitty had grabbed Jean's arm, Amara grabbed Tabitha's, Bobby grabbed Kurt's, Jamie grabbed Roberto's arm, Sam grabbed Ray, and Jubilee grabbed Rahne's arm. Scott blinked. Then he and Lance exchanged glances. Then they looked at Todd, who smirked, showing bits of food and slime stuck in between his teeth. They glanced back at each other again. 

"Uh, I'll be your roommate…if that's ok?," Scott asked, grudgingly.

"Um…sure. Okay…fine," Lance answered, reluctantly, taking a glance at Kitty, and scratched his head.

__

I can't believe I'd rather share with Summers, than Tolensky…Well..who wouldn't? 

But still…Summers?

"I get to keep a room all to myself? That's so cool, yo!," Todd said happily, as he hopped towards the nearest room.

==

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, Sum_ners_, give me one good reason why you should get the top bed."

"Well, okay…uh, because I don't want to get um, wet."

"Wha-?," Lance asked, sounding confused and frustrated. Then realization sunk in.

"Ohh no-- Now you've pushed it too far!"

Jean and Kitty then heard sounds of things clattering and breaking. Their room was just next to Lance and Scott's, which was also one of the rooms at the end of the hall. 

"I so cannotbelieve this!!," Jean cried out in exasperation, "When are they ever gonna quit?," she asked Kitty, who was laying on her stomach on the top bunk bed. 

"Yeah, like I hope sometime soon cuz I really need to get some sleep," Kitty replied, "I mean, so much stuff has happened in just _one_ day, and I'm starting to get migraines!"

Jean looked at Kitty, with a weird look on her face.

"What?" Kitty asked, starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Well, uh, I was just kind of wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Um…sure. What is it?," Kitty asked, sitting up. 

Jean took a deep breath, and finally asked," Do you trust Lance?" 

Kitty hesitated. _What's this all about?_

"Uh…yeah, I guess I kinda do." 

"Good…That's good…"

"Why?" Kitty asked, who was now full of curiosity, if not confusion. 

"Well," answered Jean, "I was kind of wondering if you would mind sleeping with him."

"What?!!" Kitty exploded, her eyes widening, "I'm only _fifteen_ for God's sake!"

"Wha--no, no, what I meant was, would you mind sleeping _in_ the same room with him?" Jean corrected herself, trying to calm Kitty down, "So that uh, maybe you and Scott could trade, and both of us can finally get some sleep…?"

__

Gotta be more careful, Jean. Sheesh, Jean thought to herself.

"Oh." Kitty fell silent for a moment. "Um, well, I guess if I had to, then I'd do it. I mean, I really doubt he'd try anything stupid…." 

"You sure?"

"Yeah…I trust him." Kitty smiled to herself. _Weird, I really do trust him. _

"Okay, cool, let's go make the trade then," Jean said as she stood up, while Kitty floated down, phasing through the top bed.

==

Jean telekinetically opened the boys' door wide open. Kitty heard grunting, so she peered behind Jean, and saw Lance and Scott…wrestling? 

Neither noticed that the door was now open, with two pretty girls staring at them

with disbelief.

__

At least they're not using their powers, Jean thought to Kitty. 

__

Yeah. Like, now what do we do?, Kitty sent back.

__

Um, Wait, I think I've got a plan…

Jean used her TK to freeze the two boys. 

"Hey! I can't move!" Lance cried out. 

"Neither can I!" Scott said. Then they heard a voice behind them.

"Okay Kitty, go" Jean ordered. Kitty obeyed. She walked over to Lance and grabbed his arm. She used her power, making them both "phaseable" or "untouchable". Jean released her TK grip on Lance completely, but not entirely on Scott's. Lance tried to kick Scott, who was being slowly dragged away by Jean, but his leg just phased through him. 

Scott stuck out his tongue.

"I really cannot believe this," said Jean.

"Yeah, you guys are like, _so_ immature." Kitty added. 

Both girls then turned their backs from them, and started dragging them. Jean dragged Scott towards what used to be Kitty's and her room, while Kitty dragged Lance to their room, in the opposite direction.

Neither noticed the small grins, the quick exchange of a tiny wink, and what appeared to be a small thumbs-up sign. 

==

What do u think? 

If u have a hard time imagining the underground place n stuf, jus remember the underground place in "Mainstream". 

and….I made up a word --"phaseable"-- cool, eh? j/k =) 

THANKS FOR REVIEWING!! Really appreciate it=) 

…kinda gives us writers motivations, y'know? 


	5. I'm not a 'kid'

What Happens Now?

BY:

kojie

===

****

CHAPTER FIVE

===

After more than two hours of planning, suggesting, arguing, debating, disagreeing, and of course, agreeing, they finally came up with a plan. It was quite simple really. Basically, they just had to find where their friends were being kept (they already had an idea where. It must be somewhere near the underground place where some of the members had fallen before…), then sneak inside, look for their captured friends, grab them, and leave. Assuming of course that the rescuers would not be captured. The rescuers consisted only of six members. Why? Well, as Cyclops had put it: "the lesser, the better." Actually, the real reason was that just in case that the rescuers might encounter any problems, Cyclops wanted to make sure that there was a second batch of rescuers, to rescue the first batch of rescuers, and the originally captured ones, and so on and so forth. Smart thinking. 

The six rescuers were: Cyclops, Jean, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Iceman, and Avalanche. Lance wasn't originally in the rescue team, but he had insisted. Or actually, to be more specific, he had threatened to cause a major earthquake if he wasn't allowed to come. O Fearless Leader is still trying to figure out why Lance wanted to come with them so badly. 

Each had his/her own assignment. Cyclops would be the leader, of course, giving out commands, etc. and also be the main offensive attacker (if needed). Jean would help with the communicating, using her telepathic abilities to link the members with one another. She would also be their main defense, providing a protective TK shield (again, if needed). Kurt's duty was much simpler. He will help with the transportation to get inside, etc. Kitty would also help in getting inside, using her phasing abilities to phase through walls and doors, or hacking computer-locked doors with her uh, hacking abilities. Bobby would be the pilot, just in case a quick escape was needed, and Lance, well, he can shake the ground or something to slow down the enemy….if need be. 

Cyclops landed the X-Copter, as Bobby now called it, in the middle of the woods about 500 feet from the outside fence surrounding the "secret" underground base. Iceman and Avalanche stayed in the aircraft, while the other four walked towards the wired fence. And again, Lance had wanted to come with them, but this time, Kitty persuaded him to stay. 

It was very easy to get to the other side of the fence, just simple teleporting and phasing. But it took a tiny bit longer to go to the underground base. The huge hole where the three had fallen, was now gone. So they had to count on Shadowcat to find a way inside by phasing through the ground back and forth looking for a corridor or room or something like that underground. When she finally did, she was then given the task to phase them all through the ground, since good `ol Nightcrawler could not teleport to a place that he had not seen before, without risking any disastrous results.

==

Meanwhile….

"So, uh, how'd you guys find me?" Logan asked. He was still sitting against the wall, near the bathroom. Rogue looked up. She hesitated. "Um, actually we weren't really trying to find you….we were fighting Magneto and his new recruits, but…it's really kind of a long story…" She shrugged. 

"Well, it kinda looks like we're gonna have lotsa time to spare," Logan replied, with a small grin. 

"Ah can't believe you're making jokes at a time like this." 

"Hey, was just trying to ease the tension, kid." 

Rogue winced when he said "kid", but she smiled back.

"Thanks." 


	6. Rescue

****

DiScLaiMeR:  
  
Don't own the x-men. Marvel does.

I'm really not that creative or imaginative.

Note: This is one of the….longer chapters.

****

What Happens Now?

By:

kojie

===

****

CHAPTER SIX

===

The four X-Men walked silently through the underground corridors. Cyclops and Jean led the way, with Shadowcat and Nightcrawler following behind them. Strangely, there were no cameras, just a straight hallway. It reminded them of their new underground quarters back at Muir Island. The walls were also made of metal, but they weren't sure if it was made of adamantium. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the end of the hallway. There was a door sealed shut, about eight feet tall, with a line of colored buttons beside it. 

"How do vee get in?" Nightcrawler asked the team, running his forefinger on the smooth metal door.

"Well uh, I can't blast it or else there'll be soldiers in here any moment," Cyclops said, then

turning to look at Kitty, "Shadowcat, you think you can phase us through?"

"Yeah, I guess…..I mean, I don't see why not, but how do we know that there aren't any people waiting on the other side?" Shadowcat asked.

"Wait, I can scan it telepathically," Jean replied, closing her eyes and putting the tips of her fingers beside her temples. The three turned towards her.

"There are people on the other side, but…."

"But?" Scott asked, eagerly waiting.

Jean opened her eyes slowly. "But…they're not enemies." 

"What do you mean? Is it Rogue and the others?" Kitty asked anxiously.

"I-I'm not sure. I just know that they're not enemies."

"Well, vhat are we vaiting for? Let's go!" Nightcrawler said both in excitement, and relief.

==

Logan was unconscious --again. 

Four armed and uniformed men had come in a few hours ago…. 

Logan and Rogue quickly got into their fighting positions. 

"I don't think so, mutant," the leader said, pointing his gun towards Rogue. The other three did the same. Logan just growled, his claws shining on the crackling light. 

"What will it be, mutant? Would you really risk the life of the girl?" the same man asked, tauntingly. "You may be fast, but my finger can pull this trigger faster that you might think." 

"We'll just see, bub," Wolverine grunted taking a step forward. 

"Naughty, naughty," the leader said, and fired a shot towards Rogue's right foot. Rogue jumped, and a gave a small cry involuntarily. She looked over at Logan. He stood still for a moment, then shaking his head he sighed, and slowly retracted his claws. 

"Good choice," the leader said. 

"What're ya gonna do to me?" Logan growled.

"The same as last time, of course. You're gonna fight the big giant robot again you lucky, lucky boy," he replied, smiling smugly. Then he turned towards the three behind him.

"Alright, do your thing," he ordered, his gun still pointing at Rogue.

"Ya sure he ain't gonna….y'know?" one asked.

"I'm sure of it. Now hurry up." 

The three walked up towards Wolverine, slowly. Very slowly. 

Wolverine smiled. 

"C'mon! a turtle could move faster than you!" the leader yelled after watching them. "He's not gonna hurt you as long as this gun's pointed at the girl's head. Now just get on with it or I'll shoot you three and do it myself!" 

The three men half-ran towards Logan, and as fast as they could, they injected him with some greenish liquid from a test tube. Then, they stepped back, waiting for the formula's effect. After a while, Logan started to feel dizzy. The men became blurry. The room was spinning. His _head_ was spinning. "No, not….again," Logan murmured as he fell into unconsciousness and onto the floor. The four men carried him out towards who knows where and brought him back hours later. He was still unconscious. 

==

Duncan stared at the blank screen before him. The remote, loosely held in his hand, fell to the carpeted floor with a small thump. He never noticed it. 

A couple of friends had invited him to some cute cheerleader's birthday party a couple of hours ago, but Duncan said no. The two kept urging him to go, said it'd be fun, but when Duncan said he needed some time to think, the two stopped immediately.

Duncan was surprised they did, but he was glad. And here he was now, thinking. 

"I really don't think that was her," Duncan murmured, talking to himself. "I mean, she looked a lot like her, and that freshman, Kitty was it? Well, she was with her, too, but that couldn't have been Jean….maybe, maybe she was like her evil twin or something…"

Duncan frowned. An evil twin? Those only happened in cartoons, not real life. Duncan chuckled to himself. 

"Good thing Mom and Dad aren't here, or they might send me to some crazy shrink or something," he muttered. He stared at the phone to his right. "So her phone isn't working, maybe the telephone wires got wrecked cause of that giant robot…. " 

"Man, who am I kidding? Something's up, and there's only one way to find out. I'm gonna have to over to the institute and see….what's up." 

He smiled to himself. 

==

Rogue heard the slow steady footsteps. There was definitely more than one person, she concluded. They were getting louder now, closer. Rogue also slid closer to the unconscious Wolverine. The transparent force field in front of her was there. Of course, she couldn't see it, but it was there. For the first time, she actually felt thankful for it. Why? She really didn't know. But one thing she did know was that the footsteps were getting a whole lot closer.

Then she saw it. 

Red hair. 

Little Miss Perfect. 

Who would've thought that Rogue would be _glad _to see _her_? Not Rogue that's for sure. 

"Jean!!" she shouted, standing up. Then…

The four heads turned toward her, their faces full of joy and relief. 

"Scott! Kitty! Kurt! Ah can't believe ya'll are here!" Rogue cried out, half-running towards them, but being careful not to run into the invisible wall. Kitty started to run towards Rogue. "No! Stop!" Rogue yelled at her. Kitty froze. "Wha-What? What is it?"

"There's like an invisible force field right there," Rogue pointed, "between us." 

"Oh…well, I can phase through it…I think," Kitty said uncertainly.

"Hmm…maybe, if we could just find a switch or something to turn this thing off, then we can just-- hey, is that Logan?" Cyclops asked, staring at the body laying on the floor, behind Rogue. 

"Yeah, it's Logan. It's kind of a long story though, I think first we need to y'know, get outta here." 

"Rogue's right, top priority is to rescue them and escape," Jean added. "Rogue, do you know where Storm and the others are?" 

"I- I don't know. I think I heard a couple of guys talking about them last night, but I….all I know is that they're not here. They've taken them to this other base…thing."

"That's okay, we'll figure it out later I guess, but for now, how do we get you out of there?" Jean asked her from the other side.

"Hey, did anybody forgot about me? I can teleport, remember?" Kurt said.

"You're right, Kurt. Sorry," Scott apologized. "Why don't you go ahead and do it then…" 

"Thank you," Kurt replied. Then, BAMF! 

Smoke and brimstone scattered in the air. 

BAMF! 

Kurt was suddenly on the other side. He put his three-fingered hand on Rogue's shoulder, and BAMF! Kurt and Rogue were now beside Jean, Kitty, and Scott. 

BAMF!

Kurt was gone again. 

BAMF! Kurt was now kneeling beside Logan. He put his hand on his chest, and BAMF! 

Everyone was together on the right side of the wall. 

"Wow," Kurt said, trying to stand as steadily as he could, "That vas vay too much teleportin' even for the fuzzy dude." Everyone who was standing laughed. 

Kitty hugged him tightly, and kissed his furry cheek. "You were great, Kurt." 

Kurt simply blushed. 

===========================================================================

Please review!! Tell me whatcha think, okay? It'd mean so much! 


	7. Run!

****

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'cept the story.

****

Note: I started this fic a while ago…I hope my writing style didn't change that much. 

****

What Happens Now?

BY:  


  
kojie

==

Chapter Seven

==

Everybody was running. Straight through the metallic corridors, with Cyclops leading the way, blasting every door that blocked their path. Logan, still out cold, was being telekinetically carried by Jean, who ran just behind Cyclops. Everybody else was running behind them, trying to keep up. The X-Men expected soldiers would come blocking their way, but no one came. Finally, they came to where Shadowcat had phased them from above. Everyone hung on to either Nightcrawler or Shadowcat. Moments later, they were running again, above on the hard, dry soil. "Bobby! Get over here now!" Scott yelled through his small communicator. 

Everybody was standing close together, very alert. They were in the middle of enemy grounds; they were sitting ducks. Silently, they waited, for Iceman and Avalanche, but expecting soldiers to come out any minute. No soldiers did. Instead, _it _came out. The huge, red, gigantic robot. Cyclops stared in shock. 

"Oh no," Rogue murmured. Cyclops glanced at her. She was slowly backing away.

The robot, meanwhile, was heading straight towards them. Each step, sent trembles through the hard earth. Cyclops fired an optic blast straight at its chest, but still, it kept going. Everyone was stepping back now, while Cyclops helplessly fired blast after blast. Suddenly, they heard a helicopter in the near distance. The ground shook hard, making the robot fall to its back. 

"Lance!" Kitty cried, as she saw him up the helicopter, his eyes rolled back, his hand stretched out front. As the Sentinel struggled to get back, the X-copter landed. Jean put Logan in first, while Rogue followed. As Kitty stepped in the aircraft, a laser beam blasted a couple of feet near them. The Sentinel was up now, his chest opened, revealing a hundred holes where fatal beams emerged. It stopped walking. It held out its hand, its palm aimed at them. Suddenly, the one whole on its palm began to glow into a cold, bluish color. "Kitty, Kurt! Get in!" Cyclops yelled. The two younger teenagers scrambled to their feet, and into the helicopter. "Jean! Run!" Scott ordered, firing another optic blast at the enemy. 

"No! You go! I can defend myself with a shield. You can't," Jean shouted, forming a telekinetic shield in front of her. 

"Jean!! Don't be so stub--"

Suddenly, the bluish glow turned deep into red. Jean's eyes widened. 

"Uh-oh."

==

Iceman did his best to lift the helicopter off the ground, pulling a lever to close the platform door at the same time. A huge blast shook the helicopter in midair. "I-I don't think I can dodge every blast," he said shakily as Kitty sat beside him in the front seat. "Maybe Scott or Logan could, but Scott's somewhere down there, and Logan's out cold!" He was starting to panic. Their only offense was Avalanche, who did his best trying to keep the robot unstable. Suddenly, Shadowcat got an idea. "Hey Bobby, remember that night when you guys took the Blackbird for a little…joyride?" Bobby nodded, not following. "Well, I think I can phase this 'copter just like last time." A smile formed on Bobby's face. "Hey, that could work! Yeah! You do that while I try my best to get us outta here…I just really hope that Scott and Jean are alright down there." 

==

Cyclops did the only thing he could do: he grabbed Jean's arm and ran towards the fence, towards the thick woods. He blasted the blocking fence while Jean formed a shield around them. As they ran, they could faintly feel the hotness of the blast. If there were any broken debris, Jean shielded them out. A while later, it seemed that the giant robot was more interested in the X-Copter than them, but still, they kept running. Hand-in-hand, together. Jean's legs felt as if they were going to collapse if they weren't going to stop soon. But still she ran, trying to keep up with Scott's fast pace. 

==

It was amazing. He didn't know he had it in him. The endurance, the strength. All he kept thinking about was that he had to get Jean out of there. It suddenly felt like they'd been running for hours, when truly, in was only minutes. Finally, he saw a highway. He could see cars and trucks zooming past them. They stopped just at the end of the woods, not daring to go to the road. They sat against a tree, huffing and panting. Then they heard a helicopter fly above. It was Bobby and the others. They had escaped.

And they, were left behind. 

=

==

===

==

=

Oh, boy. I have no idea where the thick woods came from *lol*

Feedback, as always, is welcome, wanted, and appreciated. Just click on that not so lil button below or email me here: kojie101@yahoo.com


	8. The Others

****

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'cept the story.

****

What Happens Now?

BY:

kojie

==

Chapter Eight

==

Jean watched the helicopter fly by above, and felt relieved to see the helicopter escape the robot's wrath. The second the helicopter was out of his sight, Scott's mind immediately calculated how he and Jean were going to contact the others, and tell them to rescue them. They weren't really in danger, not anymore. The Sentinel had already retreated. Scott looked at Jean, still gasping for breath. She gave him a weak smile. He smiled back. They had just cheated death. 

It felt good. 

==

"So what are we going to do now?" Kitty quietly asked the team, but looking at Bobby. As they flew above the Atlantic Ocean, all teenagers were torn between being happy and sad. They were glad because they completed the mission, rescuing their friends, and depressed because the cost was too much. "Now, we go back to Muir Island and wait for them to call," Logan muttered, groaning and getting up. Everyone glanced at him, even Bobby who was flying the aircraft. 

"You're okay!" Kitty squealed running towards Logan, giving him a loose hug. "Yeah," Logan replied, "and I feel like hell." 

==

"Ugh, my body is aching all over," Jean complained as she and Scott walked. They stayed close the end of the woods, so that no one driving by would see them. It just saved them a lot of trouble if someone pulled over and saw two teenagers dressed in a torn, weird, spandex costume. 

"Yeah, well, mine does too," Scott said. 

"Where are we going anyway?" Jean asked him, kicking a small rock on the ground. 

"I don't know. We just have to find a phone or something…any way to contact the others and tell them to pick us up," Scott answered. 

"I see…."

"Yep." 

==

"You're alright!" Moira greeted them as they got off the helicopter. "Long time no see," Logan replied, a small smile on his worn out face. Sean peered into the helicopter and found it empty. "Where are Scott and Jean?" he asked the teenagers. They all turned away, looking down on the ground, up at the sky, anywhere just not directly at the Irishman. "They….got left behind, Mr. Cassidy," Kitty finally answered, her voice ashamed. He frowned. "What do ye mean?" he asked her. "Um, it's kind of a long story…"

"We got time," he insisted, "Now tell me, what happened?"

"Hmmm…well, it's like this…." 

==

Without making a sound, he made an crushing gesture with his fingers and right hand, and the metallic bars bended and creaked. The weather goddess looked up suddenly, wrapping her long arms around her sleeping nephew. Her eyes showed fear, but determination. And protectiveness. 

"What are _you _doing here?" she asked sternly. 

"I am here to get you out of here," he replied quietly. "Your other friends are also being rescued. Do not worry." 

"But why rescue us? You're the reason we were captured. Why are we supposed to trust you?" 

"Do you want to be rescued or not? You will be safe with us. For now, the Brotherhood of Mutants and your X-Men are one. The true enemy are these….._homo sapiens_. I will explain more, but first, we will need to get away from here. Now, will you come?"

The African woman only hesitated for a moment. Then, she took his hand.

==

"Gambit, what are you doing?" Colossus asked. They had a mission, strange as it was. Their mission? To rescue the enemy. 

"Gambit just gon' open up this door," the Cajun replied, a smirk on his handsome face. He held out his hand, a card glowing between his middle and index finger. He threw it casually at the sealed metal door. The explosion was loud, and soon the enemy will arrive. But the door was open, or to be more exact, gone. Inside were two mutants: a blue-skinned beast, and a very big and almost bald teenager. "It's you!" the Blob said, pointing a finger. "Why are you here?" 

"We are here to rescue you ," the Russian replied.

"Hey! You people ready yet? They gonna be here any second now!" Pyro yelled from the hall, a plate-sized ball of fire floating between his gloved hands. "Comin'!" Gambit yelled back. "Boss sent us," he quickly explained to the mutant scientist. "So ye two comin' or not?" 

"Oh, we're coming alright. There's absolutely no way that I'm staying here," Henry McCoy answered, stepping out of the cramped room. He shook his head. "I just hope where we're going is…better. Did you know that they _don't _let us use the bathroom around here?"

=

==

===

==

=

Just letting you all know, that I am just making this up as I go. Please review still^_~ hehe

kojie101@yahoo.com

*Next chapter, Duncan!


	9. M2

****

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'cept the story.

****

What Happens Now?

BY:

kojie

==

Chapter Nine

==

"Can't we just stop for a minute, Scott?" Jean whined. She hasn't always been the one to whine, but she was so tired. Her legs felt like jelly, and her whole body ached. Cyclops glanced at her. He knew they couldn't stop. Because if they did, Scott had the feeling that he'd never be able to get up again. "Jean, c'mon. Just a couple more miles…" 

"What? _Just _a couple more miles? Are you serious?? Scott, I'm so tired! I don't think I can go on anymore," Jean whined again. Cyclops said nothing, but rolled his eyes and kept on walking. 

"Scott Summers, I know you. You just rolled your eyes at me," Jean said, her tone changing completely. 

Scott grinned. "I can't decide which one's worse: the Jean whiny voice, or the Jean strict voice ," he said to her jokingly. This time Jean rolled her eyes, but the comment made her smile. "C'mon, Scott. Just two minutes, okay? Just two minutes. You can even time it if you want," Jean pleaded. 

For a while, Scott hesitated, but finally he agreed, as Jean always knew he would.

A few minutes later, they were sitting opposite each other, their backs leaned against two trees. Scott watched as a red convertible drove by, its current speed twice more than the regular speed limit. "I miss my car…" Scott murmured. "I wonder what ever happened to it? I hope it's okay. Y'know, the professor bought it for me a year later after I first moved at the institute. I was 16. I told him I'd get a part-time job and pay him back. He told me that it was a gift, from him to me. From a 'father', to a 'son' . 'It's nothing' he said. He even-- " He stopped as he saw Jean looking at the stars, her eyes secretly telling him that her mind was…somewhere else. 

"So…what are you thinking about?" Scott asked Jean, after noticing that she wasn't listening to anything that he said. "Huh?" she asked, blinking. "Sorry…" she apologized. 

"It's okay. I said, what were you thinking about?" Scott repeated. "Um…nothing," Jean answered, "nothing important, really." 

"Oh, okay….well, in that case," Scott said, getting up, "Our two minutes are up. We need to get going." 

Jean groaned. But Scott had already been more than fair. "Fine," Jean replied, also getting up. "Let's go." 

After a few steps, Jean heard Scott moan in pain as he fell to his knees. Alarmed, she was at his side in a blink of an eye. As her hand brushed by his torso, she felt a wet, warm liquid touched by her fingers. Hoping it was not what she thought it was, she lifted her hand to the moonlight.....she was right, it was blood. 

==

"Make yourself at home," Magneto said, as he watched the weather goddess look around her. Her nephew, Spyke, stayed close to her, his bone spikes itching to get out. They were in the enemy's lair. He was ready. 

"Are we….in space?" Ororo asked, taking a look at the glass window. She saw stars all around. She put her palm against it. It was cold. 

"Yes," he answered. 

"But I thought Scott and Alex destroyed your asteroid --" 

"I made another base on one of the pieces that resulted from their blast," he cut her off. Suddenly, the tall metallic doors slid open, revealing five mutants. Allies, friends. ..

"Mr. McCoy?" Evan asked as he saw his huge figure at the doorway. "Yes, it's me. I'm glad you're alright, both of you." 

"Goddess, it's so good to see you, my friend," Ororo replied, giving him a warm smile. 

"Now that you know that everyone's okay, you can go to your quarters and rest," Magneto said, his voice serious, but…soft. 

"What's this all about, Magneto? Why are you being nice to us? We are your enemies..." Ororo's words trailed off.

Magneto took off his helmet and turned away. "My plans…they didn't turn out the way I planned. I never meant for any of this to happen. I want to fix it, I guess. I will explain more when your other friends arrive."

"Our friends? Where are they? Do you know? Are they alright?" 

"Yes. One of my new recruits told me. They're staying in a place called Muir Island. Do not worry about them, they will be here soon. I promise." 

==

"So they're still in Bayville?" Moira asked Kitty, just as she finished her story. They were in the kitchen at Sean and Moira's manor. "Yeah, somewhere….we wanted to go back and look for them, but we couldn't even fly the helicopter very well and um, Logan was still out cold," Kitty answered, still in her uniform. She was holding a mug filled with hot chocolate. She took a tiny sip. The other students were below, in the underground quarters, getting ready for bed. Logan was in Moira's medical lab. Only Kitty, Sean, and Moira were up. "Don't worry about it, lass," Sean assured her, "we understand. I just can't help thinking, though. What if I came with you? Things would've been very different. _I _could've flown that plane." His face showed regret, and weariness. "Sean, don't blame yourself," Moira told him, "I know Scott and Jean. Those two will find a way to contact us. I know they will." 

==

"Scott?" Jean asked, as they walked slowly, Scott's arm draped over Jean's shoulder. She wasn't sure, but somehow she felt that she had to keep Scott talking. And keep him conscious.

"Y-yeah?"

Jean hesitated. "Do you ever…"

"Ever what?"

"Ever wonder about Taryn…"

"Taryn?" Scott repeated. The truth was, he had never even thought about her ever since their whole world turned upside-down. Never until now, that is.

"Yeah, Taryn," Jean said. 

"Uhh…to be honest, no," Scott said uncertainly, hoping that Jean wouldn't get mad. Taryn is her best friend after all. 

"Oh…"

"Why?" he asked, suddenly noticing that he was getting tired.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just wondering, that's all." 

"Okay…well, I was wondering about something, too."

"Yeah? What is it?" Jean asked, already half-sure of what he was going to say and dreading it.

"Do you ever think about Duncan? I mean, ever since this whole…thing, happened?" Scott asked. 

"Um, well…"_It's always better to be honest, _Jean reminded herself. "Yes, I have. Er, quite a lot actually," she answered nervously. 

"Ah, I….see," came Scott's reply.

Jean flinched. 

__

Whoever said that it's always better to be honest, is stupid. 

==

Duncan shot up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen counter, where he quickly grabbed his keys. Then he went to his room to get his red and yellow jacket. After that, he went outside, started his car, and drove to the institute. When he got there, he rang the doorbell nonstop until an annoyed Summers opened the door. Duncan smiled casually, but pushed Scott out of the way, letting himself in, just as Jean was stepping gracefully down on the stairs. Their eyes met, then she ran towards him, her arms wide open. Then, they went somewhere private where they talked, and she explained to him all the weird things that have been happening. When she finished, Duncan felt relieved and told her that he could now go home. Jean begged him to stay, but he said he really did need to get home. She kissed him good-bye as he got in his car. Then, he drove home. 

That's what Duncan imagined would happen anyway. What really happened was this:

Duncan shot up from the couch and tripped over the remote. _What the hell is this doing here??_, he thought, as he threw it to the sofa. He got up and snatched his keys from the kitchen counter. Then, he ran to his room and grabbed his letterman jacket which lay on his unmade bed. He took a quick glance at his small alarm clock: 11:52.

__

I hope Jean doesn't mind me dropping over this late, he thought to himself as he headed to the front door. As he turned the golden doorknob, Duncan suddenly had the feeling that something was wrong. As he opened the white door, everything stopped as he stared at the shocking sight before him, his mouth agape. 

=

==

===

==

=

Dum dum dum dum!! Hehe There are way too many characters!! And I'm trying to fit them all in. Ahhh! There will be more Gambit, Pyro, & Colossus. Don't worry ^_^ 

...Feedback is always welcome, wanted, and appreciated!! Please review guys!


	10. Guilt

****

Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'cept the story.

****

Note: I'm trying to put Banshee in a little. I think he's a pretty cool guy. He looked good in TAS. I was watching a dvd of The Phoenix Saga a couple days ago…haha 

Also, for those who requested some things….I'm really trying to work on it. Thanks for reviewing, people. You guys are awesome^_^ 

****

What Happens Now?

BY:

kojie

==

Chapter Ten

==

Remy Lebeau stood in front of the mahogany desk, waiting patiently for his task, his red eyes glowing in the darkness. Magneto sat on his metallic chair, thinking.

"So, they are in Muir Island?" he asked quietly.

Remy nodded, not saying anything. 

"How did you find them?" 

Remy hesitated. "I don' t'ink matters how I found them. All dat matters is dat I did," he answered quietly, his voice completely calm.

Magneto smiled beneath his helmet. This young mutant was not afraid, so unlike the others. "I want you to go to them and 'invite' them here." 

"And if they gon' refuse?" 

"Persuade them. Do what you need to, but I need them here," said Magneto, his voice stern. "You need not bring the younger ones. I doubt they'll be much help, anyways. But I need most of the others for my plan, especially the leader, or else the chances of succeeding…will not be very good." 

Remy nodded once more. "Dat all?" 

Magneto paused. "No, I want you to also bring the one called 'Banshee'…" 

==

Jean saw it. A sign, a very familiar street sign. She knew where it lead to, after all, she did saw the sign almost everyday. She didn't know what made her decide to follow the sign, but she did. Scott's right arm around her shoulder, Jean struggled to walk. _Just one more mile, _she thought wearily. 

Halfway there, Jean gave up walking and used the last of her strength to carry both her and Scott as she used her TK to levitate them towards the house. As they flew towards it, Jean noticed that the lights were out, and it was quiet. There was a blue convertible in front, but the red Mercedes and the silver family van were missing. She breathed a sigh of relief as they landed near the doorstep, where Jean willed herself to walk again. 

__

We're almost there damn it… 

Finally, they reached the door. Scott's arm still around her shoulders, Jean struggled to raise her hand to the doorbell. Just as she was about to push the button, the door swung open, and she came face to face with Duncan.

==

Kitty climbed to the top bunk lazily, and saw that Lance was already lying on the bottom bed. His eyes were open. 

"Hey," Lance said in the dark. "Hey," Kitty replied sleepily, as she lay on the soft bed. She remembered Jean and Scott. _I wonder where they're sleeping…_

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Lance said out of the blue, almost as if he read her mind.

"Are you sure you're not telepathic?" Kitty asked from above. 

"Heh. Yeah, I'm pretty sure." 

"Cuz you just completely read my mind there," said Kitty. "It was kinda freaky…" 

"I'll try not to do it again," said Lance, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yeah…okay," Kitty said, "It's just that….I don't know…"

"I wonder where they are right now," Lance thought loudly. A sad smile appeared on Kitty's face. 

"Wherever they are, I hope they're alright." 

Lance paused for a moment. "Me, too, Kitty. Me too." 

== 

Duncan blinked. It was her, the girl from TV, dressed in the same black outfit. She looked exactly like Jean…but it couldn't be. Could it? When he was finally able to take his eyes off her, he noticed the bleeding teenage boy beside her, wearing a strange visor. "Help me, Duncan…" Jean pleaded. Without a moment's thought, Duncan lifted him up, easing Jean's burden. Then, he headed to his own room where he put him on the bed. Jean followed him to his room, and knelt beside the unconscious boy. She examined the wound for a minute, as Duncan stood at the doorway, still trying to take all of it in. He wasn't thinking clearly, he couldn't think clearly. Everything was getting dizzy…

"Do you have something like a first-aid kit?" she asked, taking him out of his trance. He nodded, almost shakily. "I-I'll go get it," he said, as he headed to his parents' bedroom. The kit was under the bathroom sink. He quickly grabbed it and ran back. Jean had taken off the boy's visor. As Duncan handed her the kit, he saw that the boy was Summers. It was Scott Summers. Duncan stopped breathing. How did all this happen? Why was Summers lying there, wounded? Was he going to die? He's 18 for god's sake! He had so many questions, but stopped himself from asking his 'girlfriend', who was busily taking care of Summers' wound. When he couldn't watch anymore, he went to living room and sat on the couch. He shook his head. This isn't possible. This can't be happening. It's just a nightmare. He started to run his fingers through his hair, but the moment the skin to skin contact was made, he felt something thick and warm. It was Summers' blood. Right then he knew, this was not a dream. 

==

Rogue could not sleep. Right now, she was lying on a comfortable bed. But she could not sleep. She felt guilty. It's like feeling guilty because you survived and your friends… 

She quickly erased the thought and tossed to her side. A few minutes later, she sat up….and buried her face in her hands, shaking her head uncontrollably.

==

Magneto stared absently at the earth. It was a beautiful sight. White clouds swirling over the brown deserts, the blue ocean surrounding the white arctic. So beautiful, so soothing…and peaceful.

But Erik Lensherr knew better. The humans who live there were full of hatred, always hating those they could not understand, always wanting to destroy those who were more powerful than they. His eyebrows furrowed as he sighed a deep sigh. "Where are you, Charles?"

==

Quite a short chapter, this is. I guess there'll be 16 chapters instead of 15…Hmm…

TOMORROW'S the BIG DAY!!! Season premiere guys^ ^ Oh, how long I have waited…haha

….If you noticed, Remy was talking in 1st person. It's cuz it's much easier!!! But not only that, but I have one of the X-Men Chaos Engine (?) books. Remy was talking in 1st person there actually. It was kinda weird @_@ cuz he talked in 3rd person in TAS. 

Er, pls review guys. I still want you to! Always have, and always will!! I luv ya'll for doing so in the past chapters^_^ 


	11. Painful Memories

****

Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel and/or Kids WB & are used without permission. The story belongs to me, the one and only kojie....here at ffnet. anyways.

****

Note: I jus gotta laugh, when I was reading your reviews (thanks!!!!!) I laughed. Truth is, I have no idea why Jean took off Scott's visor. I was just typing stuf and there it was. It wasn't a very good idea, was it? lol. I never really caught that one, till evolutionary spider actually said it:) It's pretty hilarious. 

And...I'm not even gonna worry about the accents. Seriously, a Cajun, a German, a Southern, a Scottish, and an Irish. lol. 

And! One more thing, I have not read the original comics. I wasn't born yet:) So I changed a few things...

*WARNING! WARNING!* Out of character Duncan. Sorry, could not help myself.

****

What Happens Now?

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Eleven

==

Duncan picked up the cordless phone lying on the couch. He turned it over, his right thumb hovering on the number '9'. 

__

Just three numbers, dude. 911. Easy as that. 

Should he? Should he call the police and say, 'Hey, there are mutants here at my house! Come and get `em!' 

He'd be turning over his girlfriend, so what? She was just for fun, anyways, wasn't she? Didn't he pick her because she was beautiful, popular, and smart? Oh, and the fact that more than half of the guys at school also wanted her. Can't forget that. 

But she _is_ a mutant. Can't forget that, either. 

Dangerous and cunning. Cunning because they were able to hide themselves for all this time. Dangerous because of their amazing powerful abilities... 

"Duncan?" 

The redhead was leaning against the doorway of the living room. Duncan shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He looked at her. She was looking at the phone in his hand. "Uh, how's....Scott doing?" he asked uncertainly. 

"He's better now," she replied quietly, as she took a few steps forward. "But he needs more experienced help. A professional doctor..."

"You want to take him to the hospital?" Duncan glanced at her, surprised. 

"No. There'd be too many risks. I just need to contact our friends. Mind if I use the phone?" she asked.

"Uh..." he hesitated, gripping the phone more tightly. "Sure," he said quickly, throwing the phone gently towards Jean. The phone stopped in midair, a foot above the couch between Jean and Duncan. Duncan let out a small gasp in surprise. "How..?" 

Jean gave a warm, reassuring smile as the phone slowly floated to her hand. "I think you already know that I'm a mutant. And," she said slowly, "I have the power of telekinesis, which means I can move things using only my mind and thoughts." 

Duncan nodded slowly, but took a step back. Jean saw his scared reaction, and felt her heart being torn into two pieces. 

__

This is what I've always feared...he doesn't trust me. He's scared of me.

"Duncan, I'm not going to hurt you. I would never do such a thing," Jean said calmly, pleadingly. "You _know_, I would never do such a thing...don't you?" 

Duncan tried to steady himself, standing up more erectly. He took a deep breath. "Prove it," he said, almost coldly. Then, seeing the hurt obvious in Jean's eyes, he added slowly, "please." 

==

Rogue stepped into the kitchen and saw Moira and Sean sitting by the table, having coffee. It was almost five in the morning. The phone was on the table in front of them. "Did ya'll even sleep?" Rogue asked as she pulled a chair. Normally, Rogue would not have done anything like that. She wasn't that kind of girl. After all, they did just met. All she knew was that they were friends of the professor's. But...things were a bit different now. Much different.

"Rogue, isn't it?" Moira asked. The pale-faced girl nodded. 

"Actually, I tried t'sleep, but I couldn't, so I came down here and joined Moira," Sean spoke up. "Although I dinna think Moira even tried to. She's been too worried, I think," he said with a tired smile. Moira raised an eyebrow. "Are you aware that I am sitting right here, Sean? I can speak for myself, love," she said teasingly, as she elbowed her fiancé gently. "Ouch!" Sean said softly, rubbing the spot where Moira had elbowed him. As Rogue watched the two in front of her, she was suddenly reminded again, by Scott and Jean. 

__

Damn. I never knew how much my friends and teammates meant to me until now.

"Ye alright, lass?" Sean asked her, his face showed concern. "Yeah, I'm okay, Mr. Cassidy," Rogue replied as she forced a smile. 

"Aye, ye'r not the only one who's worried, Rogue. We all are."

"I-I know..."

"Tell us, yuir problems, lass. Maybe we can help. Because y'know, I cannae stand feelin' more helpless than I already do," he smiled sadly.

"No, it's okay. Really, it is," Rogue assured him. 

"Hmm.." Moira murmured, touching her chin thoughtfully with her forefinger, "Would you tell us if we gave you a mug of tasty hot chocolate?" she asked, with a soft smile. A joke. She made a joke. 

Rogue smiled. This time, for real.

==

Jean glanced at the phone in her hand, then Duncan. Which problem should she try to solve first? She made her decision quickly as she put the phone on the couch, and walked towards Duncan. She could see his struggle: run away, or stay and find out. She stopped a few steps in front of him. "I can show you, if you'll let me." 

Duncan just stood there, and looked at her. Her form-fitting black suit was torn, her long red hair ruffled, parts of her face covered with dried mud and dirt. Her beautiful, yet solemn green eyes staring straight back at his. "Okay." 

She stepped closer toward him, their faces mere inches apart. He could feel her steady breathing. She raised her hands to the sides of his head, never breaking eye contact. "This will sting a bit, but close your eyes, just relax, and trust me..." 

Duncan did as he was told, and tried his best to relax. It was almost impossible. 

It did hurt, at first. He could feel his mind being touched by another's. Something was happening, but the had no idea what. Surprisingly, he was getting calmer. Calm, and relaxed. 

Was he in Jean's mind? The dark surroundings around him were forming something. He blinked, and found himself standing in somebody's front yard. He saw two girls playing happily with a Frisbee a few feet away from him. It was almost like being inside a movie. One of the girls looked like a smaller and younger version of Jean... As they were playing, the Frisbee flew to the middle of the street. The other girl ran towards the street, and was suddenly hit by a passing car.

__

Oh, my god. No... 

Duncan almost ran towards the injured girl, but he stopped. He had the feeling that there wasn't going to be anything that he'd be able to do to help her. The younger Jean ran towards the fallen girl and cradled her best friend's head on her lap. "Anne...no," she murmured, and started to cry. But as she did, she felt a stab of pain shot through her mind. She felt her pain. Jean was in her best friend's mind when she died. 

All this Duncan watched, with no idea why Jean was showing it to him. The scene in around of him changed. He was in a strange room. The walls looked like they were made of metal. The room was huge. He saw a door slide open, and Scott and the present version of Jean walked in, both oblivious to the fact the Duncan was standing there. They were in their strange uniforms. "Ready?" a deep voice asked loudly, coming from up in the control room. "We're ready, Logan," Scott answered, raising his hand to the right side of his head, near his visor. Weapons of all kinds appeared from the metallic walls. Lasers, spinning spiked discs, and a small dangerous-looking 7-foot robot were coming straight at them. 

Duncan froze. But Jean and Scott didn't. They were dodging them. Scott was somehow firing red beams of light from his eyes, hitting the spiked discs. Jean raised both hands to her temples and she began to fly. She concentrated on the laser guns, and a moment later, they were pointing at the robot, destroying it in a matter of seconds. 

Everything happened in less than a minute. 

Duncan was still shaking. His two schoolmates however, were celebrating with high-fives. The door slid open again, and this time, Professor Xavier, the owner of the institute, appeared. "Congratulations, both of you. That was excellent work." 

"Ah, it was nothing," Scott shrugged. Jean slapped Scott's arm playfully. "No, it wasn't. It was hard work!" Scott had a weird expression on his face. "That's only because you're new at this," he teased. Jean rolled her eyes, and turned to the professor. "Why do we have to do all this anyway?" she asked. 

The professor thought for a moment. "Because I know, that there will be other mutants, powerful mutants, who will not share our point of view. They will threaten mankind, even use their powers against them. We must be ready to stop them. No matter what happens, I think...I believe, that someday, mutants and humans can learn to live together. It'll only be a matter of time." 

More images came after that, but more quickly. Instead of being part of the scenes, Duncan was now watching them, like he was in a movie theater. He saw the training, the fighting, the soldiers and the Sentinel, the rescue, and more things that he never could have imagined were real. 

Finally, Duncan opened his eyes. Jean was still standing close in front of him. He nodded at her, telling her that he understood everything. 

"I'm also a telepath," she whispered quietly, but Duncan almost ignored it.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, referring to her best friend's death. 

"Duncan, why are you saying sorry? It wasn't your fault," she replied, as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Besides, it was years ago..."

Duncan did the only thing he could do. He wrapped his arms around her slim figure. He held her close to him, and whispered, "Nothing's changed between us. You're the strongest person I've ever met, Jean, and I promise, I'll always be by and on your side, no matter what happens." 

==

The phone rang. Rogue, Sean and Moira stared at it in surprise. After the second ring, they all lunged for it at the same time. Rogue grabbed it first. "Hello?" 

"Rogue! It's me, we--"

"Jean?! Are you alright? Where are you?" 

"I- We're alright. We're at Duncan's-- "

"Duncan's??!! Are ya'll crazy?!" Rogue yelled on the phone.

"Rogue, let me finish!" Jean said, impatiently, getting annoyed at being cut off again.

"Sorry," Rogue apologized. "It's alright, now, listen to me," Jean said quickly, a bit surprised at hearing Rogue's apology. "Look, we're heading to that closed beach resort that we went to last Friday." 

__

Could it really have been just last Friday? It seems as if so much has happened...

"Rogue, d'you know where that is?"

"Uh-huh," Rogue said, almost timidly. 

"Good...Um, Scott's hurt. But don't worry, I think he's gonna be okay," Jean said.

"Okay.." Rogue's voice a bit worried.

"Try to come before daylight, it'll probably be safer."

"Alright. We will."

"Uh...I'll see you?" 

"Ya'll can count on it... And Jean?"

"Yeah?"

"Ah'm so glad you're safe."

==

"Kitty!" Rogue shouted as she burst into the room she shared with Lance. 

"Wha- huh?" Kitty mumbled as she sat up, almost hitting her head on the low ceiling. Rogue switched on the lights and Lance murmured an "ow" as he rubbed his eyes. "Rogue?"

"Jean just called," Rogue started. The moment the name "Jean" reached Kitty's ears, she was wide-awake. "That must mean they're alright, right?" she asked Rogue eagerly.

"Yeah, they are. They said to pick them up at that old deserted beach...thing. C'mon, Kitty, get dressed," Rogue said as she half-ran towards the hallway. "Ah'm wakin' Bobby up!"

==

****

Note: I researched a lil bit and saw in one Jean profile that Jean was in Anne's mind when she died. But, shouldn't it have been fatal for Jean? hehe I dunno. I'm not an expert at those kind of things. 

Oh, and about Duncan....er, I never really expected him to have a big part on this chap... although he is a jerk in the show, I can't help feelin' that he's really good inside, very, very, very, very deep inside:) And that's why this chap came out this way. Weird, ain't it? 

Review! Please do that!!! I'd love for you to do that. Constructive criticism are welcome, of course. But flames...well, what good will they do except hurt people's feelings? So, please review:) "Reunion" is next...I want more Remy/Rogue and more Lance/Kitty. But for some unknown reason, I couldn't do it! Aargh. That's why this chap took a while for me to post. I really wanna put some more romancy, mushy, fluffy stuf in. lol. So, watch out for that in later chapters... I guess. Oh, and some action! Yeah!


	12. Reunion

****

Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. The story belongs to me, the one and only kojie....here at ffnet. anyways.

****

What Happens Now?

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Twelve

==

"You gonna wake Sum -er, Scott up?" Duncan asked Jean as he stood awkwardly beside her. They were in his room, where Scott was sleeping in _his_ bed. It felt....weird. 

"No, it'll probably be better if I wake him up when we get to Muir Island," Jean said as she levitated Scott. Duncan nodded slowly. Jean had explained what Muir Island was a bit, enough for him to understand anyways. Jean slid Scott's visor into his head. "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea... uh, I'll go start the car, okay?" 

Jean smiled at him in appreciation. 

==

It was early dawn, and Rogue was standing on the helipad outside, leaning against the X-copter, facing the slowly rising sun. A few hundred feet in front of her was the edge of a steep cliff, falling to the crashing waves below. The helipad was on top of a strangely-shaped building, which was a research facility, although she wasn't exactly sure for what. She forgot to ask Moira that question. Underground the helipad, though, was their sleeping quarters, where most of the students were sleeping. Rogue looked to her right, the vast land rocky and barren. She could see a classical white Victorian house, less than a half mile away. It was Moira's, of course. To Rogue, it almost seemed as if Dr. MacTaggart owned the entire island. 

"Wait!"

Kitty and Bobby appeared from the doorway. Kitty was tying her hair in her usual ponytail, and Bobby was hopping on one foot, while putting on his other boot on the other. 

"So who else is comin'?" Rogue asked the two.

"Uh, just us, I think," Bobby said as he stepped into the aircraft and took the pilot's seat. He was getting used to this. 

"I'm here, too," a voice with an obvious Irish accent suddenly spoke up. Everyone turned. It was Sean in his own uniform. Green and yellow, with black stripes on his 'wings'. "I'm comin' with ye," he said, "An' this time, I'm makin' sure _nobody _gets left b'hind." 

"Great idea," Rogue muttered. 

"Yeah, this is so cool," Kitty said, as she got on the X-copter. "Hey, Mr. Cassidy, what're your powers, anyway, if you don't mind my asking?" 

"I'd show ye, but I don't think you'd like it one bit. And, before I forget to tell ye again, when I'm in costume," he said, beaming a flashy smile, "can ye please call me 'Banshee'?"

Rogue hid a smile. She knew what his powers were, a super-sonic scream which if he used at full force, could shatter and destroy something as huge as the Empire State building very easily. It also enabled him to fly in the air. At least, that was what he had told her a few hours ago. If he was telling the truth, then Rogue wasn't really all that eager to see -or rather hear- a demonstration.

==

Jean yawned. It was probably about six or seven in the morning. She didn't have a watch. They, Duncan and she, were sitting on an old decaying log by the shore. Scott was sleeping in the back seat of Duncan's convertible, a blanket covering his body warmly; Jean had made sure of that. She wrapped her arms around her tightly as she felt a cold shiver run through her body. Duncan noticed it, and scooted near her, taking off his sports jacket. "Here," he said as he put in around Jean. "Uh, are you sure?" she asked. 

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I got a sweater with me...it's really kind of warm." He grinned, "unlike what you're wearing right now -a thin-layered, sexy, form-fitting, uh, uniform?" He scratched his head.

"Oh, yeah," she murmured as she looked at her costume.

"It may look sexy on you -well it does!- but you might catch a cold or something," he teased. 

Jean laughed. 

This wasn't the first time he'd done this, acting like a gentleman, but it certainly had been quite a while. "How long are you gonna stay here with us?" she asked as she raised a hand to shield the sun from her eyes. Duncan shrugged. "Well, it's Sunday, and Dad 'n Mom won't be comin' home 'til Tuesday...so...as long as I want, I guess."

Jean nodded, and noticed that the sun's blinding rays had disappeared...lessened. Something was blocking it. Jean stood up to get a better look. Her eyes widened with joy. It was them! Soon, she heard the familiar sound of its propellers as it got closer. Duncan saw it, too.

"They're here," Duncan said. 

"Yeah, they're here," Jean repeated," finally." 

==

Scott groaned painfully. He had a throbbing headache. He sat up, and as he did, he felt a sharp pain in his lower left torso. His uniform was torn, how, he had no idea. He observed the part below his ribs, where there was a round hole on his stained uniform, revealing that it was thoroughly bandaged, with only a small trace of dried blood. He tried to focus his eyes better and took a quick glance around. He was seated in the backseat of a blue convertible that looked strangely familiar, and he was in a beach, just by the shore. As he looked to his left, a few yards away, there were two people sitting on a long deformed piece of wood. They were talking quietly, almost whispering. 

==

Bobby squinted, and saw a small, thin, figure jumping up and down near the shore, arms waving around excitedly towards them. As they got closer, he saw that it was Jean, a big smile on her face. There was someone with her, though. Scott? No, it was...Duncan?! 

He shook his head, and tried to clear his head. He looked again. It was still Duncan. _Unbelievable_, he thought to himself. He looked at Kitty beside him. Obviously, she had seen the quarterback, too, for her mouth was dropped open, and her eyes were as wide as they could possibly get. 

__

So she wasn't lying, Rogue thought as she stared at the sight. Jean was acting as if she'd been stranded on an island for months. 

"That cannae be Scott," Sean said as he squeezed into the front between all the teenagers. Kitty said a small "ow" as she phased through the crowd and stepped back to sit in one of the back seats. "Oh, sorry, lass," Sean apologized. Kitty mouthed "it's nothing" and shrugged. 

"So, who's that guy?" Sean continued. 

"Oh...um, that's Jean's--" Rogue stopped. _Are they still together? _"Er...that's a friend of Jean's....I think." 

"Ah, I see. Is the lad a mutant, too?" he asked. 

"I doubt it, Mr. Cassi- uh, I mean, 'Banshee', heh, "she stammered, after receiving Sean's look. 

==

"I can't believe you're finally here!" Jean said as she met a hug with Kitty and Sean. Rogue and Bobby were standing (rather shyly) near the helicopter. Bobby was unsure of a hug...it seemed a bit girly. He blushed at the thought. And Rogue, well, she and Jean didn't exactly have the best friendship, if you could even call it a friendship. Duncan was also keeping his distance from them, he knew he didn't belong to these costumed people. He didn't really know them. For the first time in his entire life, he felt what it was like to be the outcast. It was quite enlightening. 

"Hey, where's Scott?" Kitty asked. As soon as she did, she heard a small click and a quiet thud, as a car door was opened and closed. Everyone turned to see Scott walking steadily towards them, almost as if he wasn't wounded at all. "I'm right here, Kitty," he said calmly. 

"Scott!" Kitty said in relief, and was about to run towards him, but Jean had already beaten her. Jean ran up to him, and Scott caught her gently with his arms, whirling her. They embraced quietly, just enjoying the short moment. 

==

Seconds later, Bobby scrambled to get the medical bed ready in the back of the X-Copter, as Scott was heading towards them, with Rogue smiling happily at him, just plainly relieved to see and know that he was okay. 

"Everything's going to be fine," Jean said to the Kitty and Banshee, "now that you're here." Kitty took an uncomfortable glance at Duncan, who was standing behind Jean. 

__

Jean, tell me, what's Duncan doing here? Kitty asked her telepathically.

__

Don't worry, Kitty. He's the reason Scott's alive... Jean sent back._ Ironic, isn't it? Um, you just go on ahead , okay? _

Okay.

Kitty understood what Jean meant enough to know what to do. "C'mon, um, Banshee," Kitty said, as she grabbed his arm. "We need to give them a bit of privacy," she whispered as she pulled him back towards the X-Copter. 

Jean waited until they were completely out of earshot, then she turned to face Duncan. "So..." she said, "I guess this is good-bye." 

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," he said uneasily, just as Jean started to take off his jacket. "No, wait- don't worry about it," Duncan assured her, "you can keep it."

"Oh, uh...thanks," Jean murmured as she put it back on. "And...thank you for everything, Duncan. I don't know what I would've done without you," she said softly as she stepped closer to him. 

"Like I said, don't worry about it," Duncan said with a more comfortable smile. Jean looked back at the others; they were waiting for her. She reached for Duncan's hand and squeezed it lightly, then she turned to walk away, feeling Duncan's eyes on her. She stopped a few feet from him, and turned around. "I-I'll be back....and I'll give you back your jacket..." Jean smiled faintly. "Because, what's a star quarterback without his trademark jacket?" 

Duncan waved reluctantly as Jean walked away from him. _After all that's happened, she still has her sense of humor..._

She'd be back, he knew that. And they'd meet again. But still, he had a sudden urge to run after her, shout her name...do something. With each step she took, he was losing her more and more. No, he thought sadly, remembering Jean and Scott's touching reunion, he had _already _lost her. 

==

He was cold. Freezing, really. His trench coat was certainly not thick enough. Remy sat against the outside wooden wall, just under the kitchen window, rubbing his two gloved hands together. He had peered in a few minutes ago, and enviously watched two teenagers talking in the kitchen, drinking whatever was in those steaming mugs.

__

Probably hot chocolate... 

Muir Island was definitely not on his list of favorite places. 

==

Almost everyone, including a fully well-rested Jean, Scott and Logan, was in the living room, having a good time. Talking, laughing, and telling stories and jokes... They were doing the things a few of them had thought that they would never be able to do again. The only one missing was Kurt, and Scott noticed this as he was talking to Bobby. 

"Hey, d'you know where Kurt is? I haven't seen him for a while..." 

Bobby shrugged. "He's probably sulking in his room; he's been doing that a lot lately."

"Oh, yeah?" Scott asked.

"Mm-hmm. He's probably thinking 'bout his _girlfriend _-you know, that Amanda girl..."

==

Moira was telling her wedding plans with most of the girls, including Rogue. The one most excited was, not surprisingly, Kitty. 

"Have you already picked what wedding dress you're going to wear?" Kitty asked eagerly, flipping pages from a bridal magazine. "Oh!" Kitty drew a sharp breath as she pointed excitedly at a beautiful brunette model, wearing a light pink wedding gown, strapless and uniquely embroidered with gold and silver linings. "When I'm getting married, I want that one!" 

"Oh? When do you plan on getting married?" Moira asked the young teenager. 

Lance, sitting on a mahogany chair a few feet away, leaned to the chair's two back legs, and tried to hear Kitty's reply. Kitty was about to answer, but the doorbell suddenly rang, and Lance, losing his balance completely, fell. Kitty shrieked. "Lance, what d'you think you're doing??" 

Lance struggled to get up, his face burning. "Uh- I, uh- "

The doorbell rang again. _Saved by the bell, _Lance thought as he sighed in relief and half-ran away from the crowd of girls and to the huddled group of boys. Rogue stood up to open the door. "Thanks, Rogue," called Moira from the living room as Rogue walked to the front door. She opened it, and was met with two very familiar glowing red eyes, staring intently back at hers. 

==

****

Note: To my dear, loyal, and really nice reviewers:) Sorry for making you wait! And...please do not worry, for Jean will not end up with that jerk, Duncan Matthews ^ ^ Er...he's a jerk in the show, at least. And um, I don't know the time zones thing between Scotland & Massachusetts...tried to look it up, but I couldn't understand what the thingie thing meant...hehe

Please review and keep me motivated and inspired....because that's what you do!! 


	13. Red Eyes

****

Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. The story belongs to me.

****

Note: I loved "Blind Alley"! Okay, that was a little late ^ ^ Hehe. Sorry this chap is late, too, you guys. I've just been busy moving my site...but that doesn't mean this isn't somewhere at the top of my priority list! ^ ^ Um...writing this chap, I noticed that I haven't really paid attention to Wanda and the others, you know, and...I'm thinking I probably shouldn't in the rest of the chapters. Cuz it'd just be too weird for them to suddenly like appear! and besides, it'd be harder for me to do it...yeah. 

****

What Happens Now?

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Thirteen

==

"It's you!" Rogue exclaimed, pointing a finger at the man in the trench coat, standing casually in front of her. The temperature was freezing, but the man ignored it. He showed absolutely no sign of being cold. 

Instead, he smiled. 

"`ello, cheré," he said in a quiet voice, with a heavy French accent, taking a small step forward, into the warm hallway. Rogue staggered back, uncertainly. "What are you doing here?" she asked, raising her voice so the others could hear her, all the while taking off her right glove slowly. 

Seconds later, she could hear the others coming from behind, crowding the narrow hallway. Logan was suddenly in front of her, and pushed her behind him, trying to act as a shield against the intruder. 

"What d'you want?" he growled and popped his claws. The man raised his hands in defense, to show he meant no harm. "Easy, over der. I didn't mean no harm---I'm jus' a messenger."

"Messenger, eh?" Logan said, obviously not believing him. 

"Dats right, messenger. Sent by Magneto himself," he replied, his voice filled with pride. 

Logan almost lunged at him right then. But there was something....if this guy was sent by Magneto, then this has got to be something important for him to risk his own life coming to a place full of dangerous mutants who _hated _Magneto's guts. 

"Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't rip you to shreds right now, _bub_." 

The man grinned. "D'name's Gambit, and I know where your beloved _friends _are."

Logan raised an eyebrow. 

The man continued, and counted with his fingers. "Let's see, oh yes, der's this annoying black kid wit' weird blond hair, a smart-ass ape guy covered wit' blue fur, a really big 'n fat teenager--" 

Lance and Todd snapped into attention. 

"-- an' one beautiful black woman wit' long white--whoa!" 

Gambit stopped as he suddenly found himself pinned against the wall, the collars of his trench coat were gripped tightly, by Logan. "Where are they?!" he yelled at him menacingly. Gambit took a deep breath, and tried his best to steady himself. He was definitely caught off guard that time, and this crazy guy, although he never would admit it, was indeed _scary_, especially with those long , sharp...

"Dey're at Magneto's base, alright?" he rolled his red eyes. "Magneto sent me t' get all o' ye," he took a look around at all the mutants gathered in the hall, there was _a lot_. "Uh, okay, I take dat back, not exactly _all _of you." Logan released his grip, and Remy landed on his feet. He straightened his wrinkled coat. "I can bring seven of you." 

"Why do we have to come with _you_? And how do we know that you're telling the truth?" Scott spoke up, for the first time. 

"I dunno," he answered plainly. "Jus' followin' orders, y'know. But...lemme put it this way, _mon ami_, if you don't come wit me, then how you gon' find out dat I'm tellin' the truth?"

"I know one way," Jean said, stepping in front of the crowd. During this whole discussion, she had been waiting for the right moment to speak, and right then seemed like the perfect time.

"And _I_ know another," Rogue said, following Jean's steps, her face showed pure confidence. All the fear she felt before had suddenly disappeared. After all, at least now she knew what his name was, and...this time, she wasn't alone. 

Logan couldn't help but chuckle at his students' quick and smart response. He turned to Gambit and smirked. 

"Guess all ya gotta do now, _Gumbo_, is pick one."

Gambit smiled as he observed the two young ladies who volunteered. He had no idea what their 'ways' were... He wondered which way was safer... He scratched his head, and glared at Logan. "It's not _Gumbo_. It's _Gambit_, and...I choose the second choice." He looked at Rogue, wondering what she was going to do to him. Would it hurt? 

"Fine," Logan said. He nodded at Rogue. 

Rogue was nervous. She was through being scared, and so now she was nervous. She felt drawn to the stranger somehow. Was this such a good idea? What would she find inside his head? 

__

Would I regret this for the rest of my life? 

She raised her bare hand, and reached out to touch him. 

Seconds later, the one called Gambit fell with a soft thud on the floor.

==

He wished he had chosen the first choice, maybe it wouldn't have been as painful.

He could hear people talking. About him, about Magneto... 

Lying on a soft bed, he was still in his clothes, but he wasn't wearing his trench coat. He was inside some sort of medical lab and the light shining down on him was blinding. He sat up, and took a good look around him. Everyone was looking at him, surprised. There were four of them: the pretty girl who touched him, a girl with her brown hair on a ponytail, the guy who wore a red visor, and a strange mutant covered in blue fur. He had a long tail and blue pointy ears, and his yellow eyes twinkled with curiosity. 

__

At least, I'm not the only one without normal eyes, Remy thought. _I wonder what their powers are?_

The one with the strange-looking visor walked over to him, a strange expression on his face. "I'm Cyclops. Rogue told me you were telling the truth," he said quietly. "I guess we're coming with you then."

Gambit nodded, and slid off the bed. _So her name's Rogue..._

"Alrighty, then. The pods should be outside by now." He noticed his coat lying on a chair and grabbed it. "Now let me see," he murmured while putting on his coat. "What was it? What was-- oh, right. _Lord _Magneto," he continued in a mocking voice," has requested that the leader of the X-Men and the one called 'Banshee' to come along for the ride." He scratched his head. "Dunno why though."

Minutes later, everyone was outside, even the new recruits and the Brotherhood, all in their uniforms. _Good thing we decided to wash the uniforms when Gambit was asleep, _Kitty thought, smelling the collar of her uniform_. _Jean, who was standing next to Scott, shuddered, and not because of the cold. The sight of these silver spheres reminded her of when she was "abducted". 

Gambit walked around the eight pods, examining each one. When he was done, they opened simultaneously. "Everytin' seems t' be workin' properly," he concluded. He turned to his mutant audience. "Now, who's the lucky seven?"

==

Alright, people, who are the lucky seven?? ^ ^ 

I actually already have an idea of who they are going to be but...yeah...lol...and the only person who's going to be in it from the New X-Men is Bobby. I like Iceman^ ^ The rest are...the original X-Men, Banshee, and um...Lance? I don't know about Todd...I haven't really given him a big part.

.


	14. Seven or More

****

Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. The story belongs to me.

****

Note: I wish they'd show an episode featuring Pyro. Then I'd know what his character is like and how he talks. Oh, and this chap ain't about St.John.

****

**What Happens Now?**

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Fourteen

==

"_Lucky _seven? I absorbed your memories," Rouge said, remembering. "Something big's gonna happen, and I doubt it's gonna be a happy reunion party."

__

She absorbed my memories? Gambit thought, confused. _Ohhh...So that's what her powers are. Memory absorption by skin contact... _

"We're gonna be doing some kind of mission, aren't we? And we're going to help Magneto?" Rogue asked angrily. "So, tell me, _Remy_, is it a 'do the mission or your friends die' kind of thing?"

Remy was taken back when she said 'Remy', but he was annoyed at her for revealing his real name. "Look, _cheré_, I ain't gonna lie t'you. I got no idea what Magneto has planned for us, but I seriously doubt it's gonna be 'do the mission or your friends die' kind of thing," he mimicked, "but I'm tellin' ya...it's not gonna be an easy ride." 

"We've had rough rides before," Scott said quietly, stepping forward. "I'm in." 

Logan was unsurprised, but impressed nonetheless. _A true leader..._

"Then, I'm in, too," Jean declared, looking determinedly at her best friend. Scott smiled at her. They were in this together. Nothing could split them apart, now that they knew how important the other was to them. 

"Um...if Storm and the others are out there, then I'm coming," Kitty said, joining Scott and Jean. 

"Me too," shouted Lance, who quickly ran over to Kitty. "I can't let you go there all by yourself," he said, grinning. His impulsive move lightened up the mood a little bit, as everyone smiled. 

Kurt pondered....where are they going anyway? Would they be able to come back again? Was he going to see his parents again? They must be worried sick about him by now. Kurt shook his head. These were his friends. And like his parents and Amanda, they accepted him when no one else did. He owed it to them...

He teleported by their side, "I think you already know that nothing in the world can stop me from coming." 

All this time, Remy was staring at Rogue, wondering, half-hoping...

"Fine. Ah'm in," Rogue said, as if pretending she didn't care. She already knew the feeling of what it was like to lose her friends, and she just didn't want to take the chance of that happening again. 

"Okay, then..." Remy said, counting the volunteers. "There are six of you. Guess that leaves Banshee--"

"Whaddaya mean Banshee?" Logan growled. "Old man can't fight even if his own life depended on it."

"Hey!" Sean said. "Now _that _was uncalled for." 

"I was in the rescue team before One-eye here even opened his mouth," Logan continued, ignoring him. Scott raised a brow.

"Alright!" Kurt exclaimed. "The original X-Men are in!"

==

__

Meanwhile, somewhere in the deserts of Arizona...

Pietro, also known as Quicksilver, got off the pod, and ran towards near the edge of a cliff, overlooking the "military" base below. He traveled down the steep cliff in his unsurpassed speed; any other man would've fallen and died. He ran up and over the metal fence surrounding the base, defying gravity once again. Oh, how he loved that feeling. To feel powerful, to feel superior...

He sped around the base, looking for a way in. The guards he passed thought it was just the windy desert.

There was a door that slid open. Pietro went inside. _Stupid people._

Three minutes later, he had circled the entire inside of the building taking more than enough pictures of every main sector, and was already waiting outside in his pod. Sure, he could've spent more time inside, but Magneto had told him to just go and see what's really happening, to confirm his suspicions. Besides, the building had "mutant detectors". Big ones.

The pod began to move. Time to report.

==

Sean Cassidy was torn about the whole thing, whether he himself should go or not. After all, Magneto, Erik, had requested for him to go. It was flattering, considering how powerful Magnus had become. Sean looked at Moira. His fiancé, his love. He had his pride; it had been a while, but he _could _fight. Probably not as...fierce as Logan, but he could fight. He knew he'd be a good asset to the team. But then again, it would be unfair to Moira if he were to volunteer, risking his life for people he didn't even know...

"Hey, wait a second---I want in, too!" Bobby suddenly protested. "I-I've done enough to be in this team. After all that's happened, haven't I proved myself to you guys yet?" he asked them, a hurt look on his face. 

"Bobby," Moira said soothingly, "You heard him, didn't you? Only seven people can go." 

The whole scene reminded Kitty of a mother comforting a neglected child. Even if they had no idea where they were going, or if it was going to be dangerous or not, Kitty couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Logan felt sorry for him too...but he also felt like he wanted to puke.

He sighed. "Could we take the helicopter and follow? Would that work?" 

Remy thought for a moment. "Dunno. Y'see, we're goin' to outer space...to an asteroid base that Magneto built."

"Another one?" Jean asked, surprised.

"Mm-hmm," he replied.

"Sorry, kid," Logan said to Bobby. Bobby frowned. He didn't like being treated the young kid who couldn't go with the "professionals". He was in the previous rescue mission, wasn't he? He piloted the helicopter safely from the monster Sentinel. How can he _not _come? 

Jean couldn't help but hear Bobby's thoughts. He was so upset.

Suddenly, Jean got an idea. It could work...

"Um, Gambit, what if two people shared a pod?" she asked uncertainly. 

Remy scratched his head. This whole thing was taking way too long. They had to leave soon. "Uh...maybe it could work," he said finally. "After all, the one who calls himself 'Blob' actually fit in one." 

Bobby's hopes raised. 

=

==

=

Oh, and...Banshee never met Storm and Logan in this universe. (He met Logan a coupla chaps ago, of course.) 

Man, I had the hardest time writing this chap. I couldn't decide which characters to pick! So many cool characters... seven is way too small a number. Why did I have to pick seven?? I was prolly half-asleep when I finished that last chapter.

And....I know normally Wanda would've been all like "I'M COMING SO I CAN HAVE REVENGE ON THE ONE MAN WHO ABANDONED ME WHEN I NEEDED HIM THE MOST AND NOTHING IN THE WORLD CAN STOP ME FROM DOING SO!!"

But like I said on a previous note, it'd just be weird since I never really focused on her anytime during the whole story.... but then again, neither did I focus on Quicksilver.... eh, never mind. One of the many flaws of this fic:P


	15. It ain't just about the kids anymore

****

Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. Don't sue.

****

Note: First of all, sorry this chap took almost two weeks. I had trouble with it, _and _I've been very, very busy lately. Projects, exams (math!), & an oral presentation. Bleh. 

To Jean ^ ^ My answers are in the order you asked your Q's. First, Gambit's an empath...he could have mind shields and/or I mean, Rogue's nowhere near any control of her powers, so it could take a while to actually sort out his memories....2) How does Scott know Jean loves him? Well...when did I say he did? ^ ^ But I mean, seriously, though, after all they've been through, there's gotta be something special between them! 3) About Bobby, um...I just wanted him to be more 3-dimensional, whatever the heck that means...4) Rogue & Remy did meet, as in they were gazing into each others' eyes for like 5 minutes...lol...but no words were exchanged. And Remy did throw an explosive card at her then ran away.

And to Lady MR...I'm trying. I really am. 

****

**What Happens Now?**

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Fifteen

==

"We're sharing one, right?" Scott asked Jean as they walked. She nodded. "Of course."

"Scott," Logan called. Scott turned around. Logan was leaning against the front door of the Cassidy Manor. "I need to talk to you for a sec."

"Oh, uh, sure," Scott yelled back. "You go on ahead, Jean," Scott said to her as he started jogging towards Logan. "What is it?"

Logan waited for a while, then looked at him seriously. "I'm putting you in charge, kid."

"W-what?" Scott asked, not quite believing what Logan was saying. 

"You heard me, I'm puttin' ye in charge."

Scott stared at him like he was crazy. "Why?"

"You really wanna go into this?" Logan asked. 

"I just want to know why."

"Because..." Logan started, "nah, forget that. Truth is, I wasn't made to be a leader, kid. You are. Being a leader, ya gotta make lotsa decisions, important ones. And uh, I ain't good at making decisions. Sometimes I think the only good choice I made was join Charles' side, instead of that Magneto maniac..."

"And so you want me to be in charge? So I can make the "right" decisions?" Scott asked, his voice rising involuntarily. "But what if I make the wrong choices? What if I fail? Logan, I'm only a kid, I can't--- "

"But you can, Scott. I trust you. Jean trusts you. Hell, we all do.. 'cept maybe for that Alvers kid," Logan's expression changed for a second, "Er, Cyke, lemme tell you something. I _know _you, and I know you can do this. You're not a kid anymore, you're Scott Summers, Cyclops. Leader of the X-Men. We've been through tough times, and we can survive this. And besides, you saw how I exploded back there, what if that happens in this mission, huh? I'd be endangering everyone. Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, Bobby....everybody, Scott." Logan paused, thinking. "I don't want that, and I know you don't either. Guess you could say I'm a loner. But you're a leader. And that's why I'm giving you this job, this responsibility. Now, what d'you say, huh? Up for it?"

Scott pondered the whole thing for a few seconds. This was huge. "Fine, Logan. If this is what you want, then I'll do my best."

"Good."

== 

Jean ran her long hands though her hair as she headed towards one of the pods. She walked cautiously, almost expecting those giant tentacles to grab her again. But she reached their transportation safely, and without any surprises. She levitated herself up and into the opened pod. She sat down on the cold, round bottom of the sphere, and waited quietly for Scott. There was nothing else she could do except hope this wasn't all a trap. 

==

"So..." Bobby said, staring at his hands. It was dark inside the pod, and he could barely see anything...except Kurt's yellow glowing eyes which were looking straight at him.

"So," Kurt repeated. "Vhat's up?" 

__

He acts like everything's normal...like none of this is actually happening, Bobby thought incredulously. 

"How do you do it, Kurt?" he asked. 

"Do vhat?" 

"That--I mean, like...how d'you act like nothing ever happened, y'know?"

Kurt's eyes narrowed a bit as he thought. "I guess I'm...used to it," he said slowly. 

"Used to it? How can you be used to it?" 

"Vell, I'm not sure. But I remember, when I still lived in Germany, because of my uh, strange appearance, people were very...not so _understanding _sometimes, and I guess I've learned how to deal with those hard times, you know, when things aren't the way you vant them to be...no matter how much you want them to change," Kurt managed to say. "And...right now is one of those hard times."

"Oh..." Bobby said, regretting he asked.

"Ah, don't vorry about it, _mein freund_," Kurt said a little too cheerfully, " You just need to think...uh, vhat's the word?"

"Optimistically? Positively?"

"_Ja_! Zats it! We all have just got to look at the bright side of things, and in this mission, zats seeing our friends again." 

==

It wasn't as cramped inside the pod as Lance expected. It was getting colder as they rose up towards the sky. 

He heard someone take a deep and shaky breath, and Lance looked beside him, where Kitty was sitting.

"You okay, Kitty?" Lance asked. 

"Yeah...just a little nervous, I guess," Kitty answered. 

"Hey, don't worry. Whatever happens, I'm here for you," he whispered. "I promise."

Lance smiled as he felt Kitty squeeze his hand. 

==

Ororo Monroe was known to be a very calm woman, always in control...and as Evan had put it, "she always kept her cool." But as she quickened her pace in the corridors, she was nervous as hell. She turned left, and stopped a few feet from a locked metal door at the end. It led to a small bare room. On the other side of the room was another door. But that one was huge, almost like a garage door, and the room acted like the main "docking" space.

Troubled thoughts flew across her mind as she started pacing back and forth. Magneto had received news just minutes before, and announced that the X-Men were coming. The whole time she'd been in this base, Ororo fought her claustrophobia. It was hard, but she thought she may even be adjusting to closed spaces. Maybe...her fear was disappearing. But whatever it was, she'd always be glad to set foot back on earth. It would be such a great relief. She tried to remember what happened in the last few days. Everything started when Charles sensed Creed prowling down the sewers. Of course, Logan volunteered first to check on it. 

And he disappeared.

With his mutant healing ability, and his knack for surviving desperate situations, Ororo was sure he's still alive somewhere. But that didn't stop her from worrying. 

__

Is Logan coming, too? Did they find him? 

After what seemed like a thousand hours, she suddenly heard strange whistling sounds---from the other side of the door. Her heart started beating fast again. They were here, right inside the docking room, right behind this door.

She pushed a series of buttons on the door panel, and it slid open. Ororo saw Logan helping Rogue out of a pod. 

Without thinking, Ororo ran towards him, wrapping her long arms around his neck. 

Logan was caught by surprise. 

He hugged her back. 

==

Ah, feel the love, right? Okay, that wasn't much. Sorry. I promise I'll try to make CH 16 longer. A **lot **longer. 

Um, quick recap. The people who were in the pods are: Scott, Jean, Kitty, Lance, Kurt, Rogue, Bobby, Logan and Remy. I think that's it....I'm not sure about Sean. D'you want him to be included? Either way's cool :)

Man, not to sound conceited or anything...but I do love this story ^ ^ 


	16. Last Night

****

Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. Don't sue.

****

Note: Again, I'm sorry. It's just that....I think I'm losing interest in this story again. I mean, there were some chapters where I really got into it, but now....hmm...I guess I'll need to hurry and get on with the action stuff--which was originally supposed to be in Chapter 15.

Sections inside *s are Lady Mr's ^ ^ ....gee, thanks! You're an awesome writer!

PG-13 for swearing....

**What Happens Now?**

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Sixteen

==

"Aye, love sweet love," Sean chuckled. Jean and Kitty looked at what Sean was chuckling about, and saw Storm and Logan --in each other's arms. Jean bit her lip and elbowed Scott, nodding to the two. Scott looked....and grinned. "I always knew there was something-- "

Jean nudged him again, signaling for him to be quiet. Storm had now pulled away from Logan.  
  
*Ororo looked flushed. The slight red that was almost invisible to the naked human eye, was distinctively seen by Logan's enhanced ones.  
  
*"Forgive me Logan, it's been a while since I have seen anybody, and with my claustrophobia..." realizing that she was about to start babbling, Ororo stopped speaking. Taking a breath, she said, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Nah, don't be. It's not everyday that a beautiful woman throws herself at me. I enjoyed it, darlin'." Logan's eye's held a twinkle in them that made Ororo smile and blush harder.*

"Welcome," a deep voice said, startling everyone. They turned. It was Magneto. Where'd he come from?

Wolverine let out a small growl. But instead of attacking, he glanced at Scott. Cyclops took the hint. "Where are our other friends?" Cyclops asked in a very serious tone.

"Your friends are waiting for you," Magneto answered. "Come, follow me..." 

Magneto led the group of mutants through a deep maze of corridors. Cyclops tried to remember every turn, in case they needed to make a getaway, but it was just all too confusing. Finally, the firm believer of mutant domination over _homo sapiens _stopped at a metal door, which didn't look any different from the other ones, and it slid open, revealing a big round room...and another group of mutants. There were hugs and a lot of smiling and laughing as the reunion went on. Magnus gave them exactly one minute, and then called for their attention as he stood in one side of the room. Quicksilver, Pyro, Colossus and Gambit huddled behind him.

"You all are probably wondering why I invited you here," Magneto said. He received nodding heads and looks of curiosity. "A few hours ago, I sent Pietro on a mission in the deserts of Arizona. He found a so-called military base. The-- "

Logan cut him off. "Hate to interrupt, _Tin-head_, but cut to the point, willya?" 

Magneto glared at him, and resisted the overwhelming urge to bang him against the wall. If he did that, the X-Men might not help him in this situation...and hard to admit, but he needed their help.

"Alright," Magneto said coldly. "I'm certain you remember the red giant robot? Well, my suspicions were confirmed when Pietro gave me his report. This military base isn't a military base. It's a factory," he paused, staring at everyone's confused faces. "A factory for making robotic mutant hunters....Sentinels as they are now called." 

The X-Men stared at him like he was crazy. "What're ya talkin' about?" Rogue asked. 

"Don't you see? These Sentinels are our kind's end. Mutants will be captured, placed in concentrated camps...just like what the Nazis did to the Jews," he answered, his voice bitter as he said the word _Nazis_.

"You're kidding..." Kurt reluctantly said.

"No," Magnus said plainly, "I'm not. I also found out that the Sentinel Program is an illegal operation...at least for the moment. The U.S. Government hasn't officially approved the making of these Sentinels. If you want proof," Magneto said, looking at Pietro, who held a brown of folder in his hand, "I have it."

"If it _is _an illegal operation, they why don't we just tell it to police?" Scott asked. "They can just bust `em, can't they?"

"I'm not sure...but even if they do, by then hundreds of Sentinels will already be roaming the globe, and who knows what they'll do to our brothers and sisters. It's important that we deal with this situation immediately."

"So dude, what're you saying? That we go and destroy this factory thing?" Evan suddenly asked.

"Exactly."

Everybody fell silent, glancing at each other. This was bigger than they had ever imagined. 

==

It was strange, but Magneto had said that he built this ship just in case..._things _happened. There was a gym-like training room, where Magneto said his followers trained, and there was a kind of communications room. But it seemed that there was much more than he was willing to tell... But he did have small bedrooms for his guests. And again, the students found themselves sharing their quarters with one another. 

Jean lay on the top bunk, and listened at Scott's steady breathing for a while, trying to figure out if he was asleep or not. "Scott?"

"Yeah, Jean?" his voice answered in the darkness.

"Are you....scared?"

Scott hesitated. Should he tell the truth and say "Yes, I'm scared as hell and I need your arms wrapped around me because I'm so damn afraid that tomorrow is going to be the last day of my miserable life"? Or should he play the brave leader, and just say no?

But then again...Jean _is _a telepath.

"Um...yeah, I kinda am."

"Me too," Jean said, glad that she wasn't the only one. 

"But I mean, we shouldn't worry about anything," Scott said, trying to give a little confidence. "Magneto's on _our _side now."

"Yeah, but Scott..."

"Hmm?" 

"Is that a _good _thing?"

Scott didn't know what to say to that. Sure? Yes? Of course? 

Instead, he changed the subject. 

"Can I ask you something Jean?" he asked, sitting up, careful not to bump his head. 

"Of course." Jean could hear him shuffling below. She slowly climbed down the ladders wondering what was on his mind. "Scott, what is it?" 

Scott looked at her, but walked to the glass wall-like window that showed them a magnificent view of the earth. It was so breathtaking and perfect... 

Just like Jean.

His back towards her, he began to speak, mustering every ounce of his courage.

"Not to scare you more or anything, but...I-I've been doing a lot of thinking and uhm..."

"Yes?" Jean asked, walking to his side. Scott swallowed. 

"It's such a scary thought, but...this could be our last night...together."

Jean closed her eyes for a second taking in the horrifying thought. "I guess you're right. There's a chance tonight could be our last."

Scott looked at her, the shadows covering half of her face. She looked tired, but wow, was she beautiful.

He inched towards her, his heart beating fast. "I don't want to force you...but will you let me...?"

As Jean looked at him, his face was serious but...there was something else. Something so strong that she felt drawn towards him...

Her mind went blank. All she could do was nod...

Scott raised a shaking hand and brushed strands of scarlet hair from her face... 

And he kissed her.

Jean's heart stopped as she felt Scott's lips pull away from hers. All thoughts and doubts disappeared except one...

"I love you, Scott Summers," she murmured absently, content within his embrace.

==

He had four and a half hours left of sleep. And he spent three of them in the 'Gym'. He planned to spend the last hour and a half doing the same. At the moment, he was lifting weights, sweat forming and dripping down the sides of his face, sliding through his ruffled hair. His count stopped at 143, and he was already way past that number.

"Logan?"

He turned his head, not stopping his exercise. "Ro?"

"You should be resting, you know," she said, walking over to him, her white silky hair bouncing with each graceful step. His wary eyes followed her. 

__

Damn, she really is a goddess. 

"Is anything the matter?" she asked, concerned. Logan's eyes widened for a second, as he found himself staring. He shook his head. "No, unless the fact that we may all die tomorrow is-- "

"Logan, please don't," Storm interrupted. "Don't make it harder than it already is." 

"I...I'm sorry, Ro. I...uh, didn't mean it that way," Logan apologized uncertainly as he set the weights down on the floor. 

"It's alright...I'm just so worried about them..." her words trailed off. 

"The students?" Logan asked, unaware he was staring again, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, the students. They're only teenagers and kids. They're supposed to have their whole lives ahead of them, but already they have to deal with this!" Ororo said, gesturing around the room, her face flustered.

What to say?

"Yeah...yer right," Logan said. "But I'm not gonna let anythin' happen to any of `em. I promise ya, everybody's gonna be fine. Every one of `em." 

Storm nodded. She sure hoped so.

==

She could see them...

Stunning red eyes on black...the way they glinted in the dim light every time he smiled...

And his lips...the way they moved so smoothly when he talked...and oh, that sweet rough voice forming those lovely French words with every single...

Rogue blinked, startled. 

__

Fuck! Rogue swore as she realized what she was thinking about. _Why the hell can't I get him off of my mind?_

She touched her forehead with frustration.

"Dammit..."

__

Rhymes with...**Gambit**! a tiny voice laughed mockingly. _Can't stop thinkin' about him, huh? So cute, so sexy, so--_

__

Shut the hell up! Rogue yelled back. She waited for a few seconds to see if the little voice would reply, but it didn't. 

__

Christ, I'm hearing voices now? ...Not that it's anything new...but still...

Remy, why'd ya have to come into mah life? I was doin' fine without you! 

Knowing there was no one who'd answer, Rogue ran her fingers through her hair, rolling her eyes as she did. 

__

Besides, "dammit" does not rhyme with "Gambit" ...

God, of all the six billion people in the world...why me? Why me?!

She sighed deeply, finally giving up. "Why....me?" she whispered.

It was just no use. 

==

Liked it? Hope you did. I actually reached my goal for this chapter...1700 words...lol. 600 more than the last one.

Yeah...two or three chaps left ^ ^ I'll try to write them to the best of my abilities! 

...so that it'll actually be worth reading....hehe:)


	17. New Friendships

****

Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. 

****

Note: I'm not gonna apologize this time. Writer's block ain't my fault:) Happens to everybody....right? 

'Sides, I was working on Shades of Redd...*laughs nervously* (Pyro = St. John & Colossus = Piotr)

**What Happens Now?**

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Seventeen

==

Scott felt _her _luscious lips, sweet and trembling as they briefly brushed against his. The soft touch of her skin beneath his palms was almost unbearable. Heart pounding, head spinning, he could vaguely remember everything else. Trying hard to breath, he shuddered, and tried to focus on the mission. 

Hot sand scratched their feet, somehow penetrating the use of their durable boots and shoes. Beams of radiating sunlight scorched their tired faces, sweat forming inside their gloves.

"How much longer do vee have to walk?" Kurt whined. He could easily teleport from place to place to avoid the heat, but they might catch the enemy's attention, what with all the appearing and disappearing going on. Following him was Rogue who muttered "Grow up, willya?" and Beast who just sighed heavily. His thick fur was at a disadvantage in this kind of weather. A full brown backpack was slung over his shoulder. Remy tagged behind Rogue like a puppy, trying to make any kind of conversation with no such luck. 

"Yo, guys," Toad said, as he hopped over to Cyclops," Y'know, I-I been thinkin'."

"Well, that's a surprise," Rogue observed, but Todd ignored her. 

"Since the Brotherhood and the X-Men are workin' together now, why don't we call ourselves---ya'll ready for this?" He paused, as he heard a dramatic drumroll in his head. "The _X-Brotherhood_," he announced proudly, as if it was the coolest thing in the world.

Everybody stared at him for a second. Then they went on walking like nothing happened.

Kurt could no longer stand it, his patience for it all grew thin. As did Scott's patience for Kurt's whining. Kurt was almost as bad as Kitty. 

__

And Jean, Scott added, remembering their little adventure of being left behind a few days earlier.

"Almost there, Kurt," Scott replied wearily as he led the way. They walked for what seemed like an eternity. With every step, Scott was once again tempted to go into his daydream. Silky red hair, sparkling green eyes, beautiful body... 

He blinked hard, shaking his head. 

__

Whoa. Don't even go **there**.

==

The base didn't look enormous. From what she could see, it was just as big as the Xavier's Institute. But she knew better; half of it was probably hidden under the sand and earth.

It seemed quiet all of a sudden, and Jean looked behind her, checking to see if everyone was still there. Kitty and Colossus were at the end of the line, whispering quietly to each other. Right from the start, there seemed to have been a comfortable connection between Mr. Hunk of Metal and little Kitty. Jean wasn't surprised to see that deep inside that hard exterior, Piotr had a heart of _gold_. 

She couldn't help but smile at the quickly formed friendships between everyone, as Bobby and Pyro, also known as John, were playing with their powers. She would've told them to cut it out...but she didn't want to. Right now, they were a team. Maybe there was hope for all of them to be friends after all. 

"Hey, babe," Pietro said, breaking Jean's thoughts, "when do we move?"

Jean turned to the pale-faced teenager. His eyes had a certain look of excitement in them, but his face was serious. Most of his usual sarcastic and boastful self seemed to have disappeared somehow. 

Jean wondered what it was like to have Magneto as a father.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, and stared at the sunny horizon. 

"When it rains."

==

Lance was frowning. Why couldn't he be in the same team with Kitty? At least, Kurt was in a different team, too. He scratched his head. When's it all going to start? He wanted it to start soon, so they could all just get it over with....

"I'd rather freeze at Scotland rather than burn here in hell," Sean said as he ran his fingers through his unruly hair. 

Magneto ignored him, as his eyes searched the desert for the other teams. They were supposed to surround the base with three teams, and so far, the other two hadn't arrived yet. Suddenly, a quick glint to his right made him turn around. 

There it was again. It was small and twinkling. He narrowed his eyes, and finally realized what it was. 

One of the teams had arrived. And for some inexcusable reason, the other team was late. But he wasn't going to wait for them. They'd catch up sooner or later. 

"Alright everyone," Magneto said, not taking his eyes off the team in the distance. "Storm, the signal." 

Ororo nodded, and took to the air, her eyes glowing white. Below, Wolverine cracked his knuckles, his claws itching to get out. It was show time.

==

Water. He needed water. His head was looking down, his mouth and throat were dry, and he was dead thirsty. 

Scott stopped abruptly as he noticed a drop of water land on the ground before him, only few inches from the edge of his boot. It was quickly absorbed by the sand...or was it all his imagination? 

He raised his head and saw dark clouds forming above the sky, a dark, small figure floating in the air. 

Storm.

"Everyone! We're there! We're there!" Scott yelled. "There's the signal, and there's Storm!" he said as he pointed towards the same direction as to where the Weather Witch was flying. 

"C'mon, people!" Beast ordered. "We need to get inside while Magneto's crew distracts the Sentinels. No time to get lazy---everybody, hustle!"

==

"What the hell??!" a man of higher rank yelled over the shaking soldier. "Are you sure they're _mutants_?"

"Uh--yes, s-sir!"

"But how the hell did they find us??" 

"I--I've got n-no idea, sir!"

"Aargh!" The man grunted angrily, shoving the new recruit to the wall as he headed towards the main control room. There was a huge screen, which showed mutants coming from the desert cliffs, about to attack, powers obviously in action. 

"Send those friggin' Sentinels out there NOW!!" He pounded at the controls, but grinned maniacally. 

"I wanna see what these robots can really do." 

==

"They've started!" Pietro exclaimed, rain pouring everywhere within a hundred yards. 

"Yeah, I know," Jean replied. "But we'll have to wait until their full attention is at Magneto and the others."

Pretty soon, the sand below began to open up, revealing a monster hole. Sentinels flew up from it...one, two, three, four...there was too many to count them all.

Bolts of lighting struck the first three as the next two were magnetically thrown against each other. They all fell to the ground, but they were still moving. They stood up, but found themselves staggering backwards as unimaginable tremors shook the ground. Bone spikes flew all around, but not aimlessly; most of them were hitting the robots effectively. Two sets of three claws seemed to be everywhere, slashing and dicing cold metal, causing mini explosions in every part of the robots' bodies. 

All this happened while Jean's team crept quickly towards the open hole on the ground. They were inside within a minute, and already exploring the place, eager to end this mission and go home. They went through a series of huge hallways, expecting BIG company anytime now. 

Jean started to get slightly worried. "Pietro, do you still remember where we're supposed to go?" she asked. 

"Uhm...well...." 

"Guess not," Kitty smirked. Bobby chuckled.

"Hey!" Pietro said.

"Hey, yourself. We got no time for this, mate," Pyro remarked. 

"Try to remember," Colossus encouraged. 

"Sorry," Pietro replied. "No can do, metal boy. I don't remember this place at all. I guess I missed it or somethi--- yowza!"

Two Sentinels had suddenly appeared in front, coming out of nowhere. 

"Yowza is right!" Bobby said, his body now made entirely out of ice. One of the Sentinels fired a small red laser, but Jean blocked it in time with her invisible shield. The other robot fired another beam, which Colossus took full on the chest, throwing him against the wall. Kitty ran up to him, kneeling beside him. "A-are you okay, Piotr?" 

He answered with a smile. "I'm fine, dear Kitty. It didn't hurt one bit." 

But John didn't seem to hear his answer. "Hey, that was my pal!" he yelled, as sea-like waves of hot flames burst from the back of his arms, swallowing the Sentinels. 

"My turn!" Ice beams shot out from Iceman's hands as he froze the Sentinels from the feet up. Quicksilver ran quickly around the robots, forming a small whirlwind. The robots toppled with a loud crash, just as Jean formed another bubble to protect her fellow teammates.

Everything was silent for a moment as everybody stared at the broken pieces of frozen hands, heads and who knows what part that lay on the ground. Kitty broke the silence with a small quivering voice.

"Well, that wasn't too hard, w-was it?" 

=

==

===

==

=

I was really tempted to put some Jean/Pietro in here.. Er, I tried to include everyone. Hope I didn't _forget _anyone...there are 18 characters in this adventure mission to my knowledge. Tell me if I did. 

Btw, just so you know...when Magneto saw the twinkling thing, it was Bobby playin' wit ice. Hmm...

Does ice twinkle? Maybe I was thinking of diamonds...

Hope you liked this chapter! Um...sorry if Pyro seemed out of character. I know he's a crazy (pyro)maniac;)

Anyway, please review!!


	18. Worthless Author's Note

12.11.02

****

Author's Note: 

I would just like to say that I am **not **putting Jean with Pietro. When I was writing it, the thought occured to me, but I'd never do that---not in this fic, anyway. It just wouldn't fit and it'd just be...weird. 

Even if I'm a Scott/Jean 'shipper, I'm still pretty open to Jean and other than Scott couplings...like say, Warren...hehe. And Lucid Dreamer's stories introduced me to the idea of Jean with Pietro.

So, I'm sorry for all the confusion & misunderstanding. 

kojie

P.S.

Thank you all for reviewing ^ ^ I really appreciate it.


End file.
